


905 




Qass AJ2^f_^ 

Book _6-^jGL-^ 




Dk. .Svl\estek Gardiner. 



THE 
CENTENNIAL or GARDINER 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE EXERCISES AT THE 
CELEBRATION OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH 
ANNIVERSARY OF THE INCOR- 
PORATION OF THE TOWN 
JUNE 25, 1903 



GARDINER, MAINE 

1903 



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The Lakeside Press 
Portland, Maine 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Doctor Sylvester Gardiner, 








Frontispiece 


Saint Ann's Church, 








. 10 


General Henry Dearborn, 












18 


Old Post Office, . 












20 


Pownalboro Court House, 












24 


Robert Hallowell Gardiner, 












26 


Allen Dwelling, . 












30 


Soper Dwelling, . 












34 


Oaklands, 












. 36 


Lyceum, 












38 


Episcopal Church, 












40 


Bishop Burgess, . 












44 


George Evans, 












46 


Hallowell House, 












54 


Methodist Church, 












56 


Congregationalist Church, 












58 


Esmond Dwelling, 












64 


Colburn Dwelling, 












72 



CONTENTS. 



Memorial Service, 
Exercises, , 
Flag Song, . 
Remarks of Mayor, 
Remarks of Chairman, 
Historical Address, 
Poem, 
Ode, . 

"Parish Chaise," . 
Act of Incorporation, 
Last Half Century, 
Steamboat Reminiscences, 



PAGE 

9 
12 
15 
17 
20 
23 
47 
53 
54 
57 
60 
69 



N FEBRUARY 17, 1803, in accordance with an act 
approved by the legislature of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts, Gardiner, in the so-called District of 
Maine, was set off from ancient Pittston and incorpor- 
ated as a separate town. Sparse of population among its 
wooded hills, the settlement boasted no edifice of a public 
nature other than its single place of worship, a small and 
unpretentious Episcopal Church, known as St. Ann's ; and in 
this building, on Monday, March 21, of the same year, was 
held Gardiner's first town meeting. 



SERVICES AT CHRIST CHURCH, SUNDAY, 
MARCH 22, 1903. 

Most appropriately, then, the hundredth anniversary of 
this event was commemorated on the afternoon of Sunday, 
March 22, 1903, in Christ Church, the successor of St. Ann's 
and neighl)or to its site. Here the rector, the Rev. R. W. 
Plant, conducted a short service, and suitable music was 
rendered by the congregation with the assistance of the 
vested choir. 

The Mayor with the other city officials was present, and 
the church was filled with Gardiner's representative men 
and women. 

At the conclusion of the service able historical addresses 
by four of Gardiner's citizens were delivered to the appre- 
ciative audience. 

In a few preliminary words the Rev. Mr. Plant emphasized 
the relation which has existed between religion and govern- 
ment from the time of the dedication of Solomon's temple 



10 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

through the succeedins: centuries and through the annals of 
the earl}^ New England States. With a passing reference to 
the customs and birthday of the town of Gardiner, one hun- 
dred years before, he introduced the first speaker, Melvin C. 
Wadsworth, whose subject was "Lessons of the Hour." 

Mr. Wadsworth gave a series of vivid pictures of life in 
Gardiner as he had seen it ; and then contrasted by-gone men 
and manners with those of the present day. He told of the 
efficient service of the town during the War of the Rebellion, 
and closed his remarks upon the teachings of the past with 
the well-chosen quotation : — " The things which are seen are 
temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 

Ex-Mayor Ladd next discussed '' Gardiner as My Adopted 
Town." His reminiscences of the early life of this commu- 
nity and of the strong men of the time were graphic and 
vigorous. With regard to religious and moral influences, 
he gave his opinion that we had lost rather than gained. In 
proof of this, he noticed the loftier ethical standpoint of the 
past and the comparatively zealous attendance upon church 
services, especially among the men who built up the town. 

Josiah S. Maxcy then spoke on "Gardiner as the Home 
of My Youth." Mr. Maxcy aptly described the pioneer set- 
tlers of the town, their customs, and their public meetings, 
with emphasis upon the responsibility of each of us for the 
history of his time. Among the sterling qualities of our 
forefathers, he praised especially the vigor with which they 
established and upheld those three great factors of progress — 
home, school, and church. 

He made mention of several prominent men who had been 
of influence during the formative period of our city's life. 
He then reviewed the industrial advance of the citizens ; and 
concluded with an expression of hope for Gardiner's future 
and a reference to the fair memory of a childhood spent 
within its bounds. 

The fourth and last address was by Henry Richards, 
on "The True Value of Progress." It gave, in a scholarly 



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EXERCISES AT CHRIST CHURCH. 11 

review, a brief history of Gardiner, beginning with the arrival 
of the white man in this vicinity, some three hundred years 
ago. The trials of the early settlers, their bravery and perse- 
verance, the Indian outbreaks, the growth of the little town 
and its industries, its former prominence among its neighbors 
upon the Kennebec, its progress in later years, — all these 
were fitly chronicled by the speaker. In conclusion he drew a 
parallel betw^een the development of our city and that of the 
New England States, with comments upon the differing influ- 
ences which produced the pioneer of the past and the citizen 
of to-day. 



Exercises of June 25, 

Not long after this service of commemoration, the City 
Government appropriated the sum of $200 to defray the 
expense of a general celebration, to be held on the afternoon 
and evening of Thursday, June 25, 1903. For arranging 
the necessary preliminaries the following committees were 
appointed : — 

Chairman of Committees — Mayor E. L. Bussell. 

Committee from City Government— C. O. Turner E P 
Ladd, F. E. Strout, F. W. Harrington, E. L. Blake. 

Committee on part of Citizens — Josiah S. Maxcy A W 
McCausland, O. B. Clason, Henry Eichards, Frank E. Boston! 

To each of the absent sons and daughters of Gardiner a 
copy of the following invitation was sent. 

1803. 

1903. 

CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY. 

o„ T .L Gardiner, Maine, May 14, iqoii 

On June 25th occurs the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation 

^eLra Iv will ^ '"^^ , u^"' '" '^^ "'"^^ organizations, with citizens 

generally, will assemble on the Common, where a procession will be formed 

:^=:?^oS;^s:r^^^^^ 

cises^ consistmg of orations, original poems, historical addreTes'etc 

As a resident or former resident of Gardiner, bound to her bv ties of 
nendsh.por bonds of affection, you are most cordially inv ted to be pes 
ent and participate in the festivities of the occasion. ^ 

Very respectfully yours, 

O. B. CLASON, . 

J. E. CUNNINGHAM, | Committee 
G. D. LIBBY, i on 

C. H. BEANE, I Invitations. 

F. IRVING BUSSELL, j 



PROGRAM OF CELEBRATION. 13 

The program proposed for the celebration was a credit to 
the committee in charge, who, largely through the hospitality 
and public spirit of Mr. R. H. Gardiner, were able to promise 
the people such a gala day as the city has seldom seen. The 
details of this program are given below. 

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

OF THE INCORPORATION OF GARDINER, 

ON Thursday, June 25, 1903. 

The Committee has received an invitation from Mr. R. H. Gardiner to 
visit him at Oaklands in the afternoon, and accordingly they have arranged 
the following program : — 

AFTERNOON. 

Parade will be formed at junction of Water and Brunswick Streets at 
1.45 p. M. by Marshal Drake. The line of march will be down Water Street, 
up Vine and School, and down Dresden Avenue to Oaklands in the follow- 
ing order : 

Police. 

Cobbossee Band. 

City Government. 

Marshal and Aids. 

Company A. 

Heath Post, G. A. R. 

Union Veterans Union. 

Sons of Veterans. 

Canton Evergreen, P. M. 

Uniform Rank, K. of P. 

Continental Hook and Ladder Company. 

Alert Hose Company. 

Eagle Hose Company. 

Cobbossee Steamer Company. 

Dirigo Lodge, A. O. U. W. 

Danforth Lodge, N. E. O. P. 

Samuel Grant Chapter, D. A. R. 

Heath Relief Corps. 

Degree of Honor. 

Citizens in Carriages. 

Remain until 4.30 p. m. School children form flag at base of Mount 
Tom. During the flag exercises the spectators are requested to take posi- 
tion near the summit of Mount Tom on the south side, where they will have 
an unobstructed view of the proceedings. Old-time dances on the green. 
March back to Common and disperse. 

It is understood that the mills and places of business will make this day 
a half holiday, and it is hoped every one in our city will avail himself of the 
opportunity for an outing. 



14 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

EVENING AT COLISEUM. 

Concert by Togus Band, Prof. Thieme, 26 pieces, 7.30 to 8.00 o'clock. 
At 8.00 o'clock. 

Opening of meeting by Mayor Bussell. 

Prayer by Rev. J. L. Quimby. 

Address by Mayor and introduction of Chairman of the evening, Robert 
H. Gardiner. 

Address of the Chairman of the evening. 

Singing by children, "America." 

Historical Oration, "Early History of Gardiner," by Josiah S. Maxcy. 

Music by band. 

Pictures of Gardiner's past history. 

Original Poem by Henry S. Webster. 

Singing by school children. Ode written for the occasion by Mrs. Henry 
Richards. 

General Oration, Hon. H. M. Heath. 

Singing by school children, " Home, Sweet Home." 

Prayer and Benediction, Father Reardon. 

It is hoped that on this occasion everybody possible will decorate his 
home and see that Gardiner looks her best. 

The morning of June 25th was ushered in by a joyous 
blast of whistles and peal of bells ; but the sound of heavily 
falling rain caused the citizens to alter their plans for the day. 
Instead of the exercises which had been arrano-ed for the 
afternoon at Oaklands, it was decided that the people should 
meet at the Coliseum to participate in a hastily arranged 
program. 



THE AFTERNOON EXERCISES. 

The parade was formed as at first intended, and after 
marching through a few of the principal streets reached the 
Coliseum at about three o'clock. In the meantime the 
building had been gradually filling with people, and school 
children, to the number of several hundreds, were there with 
their teachers. 



EXERCISES AT COLISEUM. 15 

First on the proj^ram was a military drill by sixteen 
young ladies, led by Miss Carrie Stone as captain. The 
members of this company were Misses Edrie Beede, Ethel 
Blair, Sara Bolger, Pearl Cook, Dora Cooper, Kate Dowling, 
Mary Duncan, Maude Esmond, Anna Hunt, Julia Marr, Ella 
Percival, Flossie Percival, Hazel Potter, Grace Richardson, 
Carrie Stone, Lottie Tasker, and Lena Tibbetts. 

This was followed by a pretty fancy dance, the "Para- 
sol," by Misses Phoebe Beecher, Annie Doe, Josephine Haley, 
Barbara Maxcy, Geneva Smith, and Cassie Young, led by 
Miss Jennie Harvey. This dance was charming and graceful. 

The last fancy dance on the program was the "Colonial," 
by thirteen young ladies in the attractive costume of "ye 
olden time." Those who took part were Misses Phoebe 
Beecher, Sara Bolger, Kate Clements, Helen Cooper, Jose- 
phine Haley, Edith Landers, Harriet Marr, Helen Maxcy, 
Barbara Maxcy, Rachel Moulton, Bettie Richards, Carrie 
Stone, and Cassie Young. This was a particularly pleasing 
dance, owing to the beauty of its figures and the grace of the 
participants. 

The school children then sang the following "Flag Song," 
composed by Gertrude E. Heath and set to music by Kate 
Vannah : — 



THE FLAG. 

Fling out the flag, O children ! 

That all the world may see 
How, cradled deep in the heart of a child. 

The love of the flag may be ; 
The love of the flag with its crimson bars 
And its field of blue with the spangled stars ; 
The love of the flag with its crimson bars 
And its field of blue with the spangled stars. 



16 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

Salute the flag, O children ! 

With grave and reverent hand, 
For it means far more than the eye can see — 

Your home and your native land ; 
And men have died for its crimson bars 
And its field of blue with the spangled stars. 

Revere the flag, my children, 

Wherever its folds you see, 
For cradled deep in the heart of a child 

The love of the flag may be ; 
The love of the flag with its crimson bars 
And its field of blue with the spangled stars. 

Pray for the flag, my children. 

That never a traitor bold 
Defame a bar or a spangled star. 

Or sully a silken fold ; 
Then pray for the flag with its crimson bars 
And its field of blue with the spangled stars. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent by the people in old- 
time dances. 

Refreshments intended for the proposed reception at 
Oaklands were served to those present through the generosity 
of Mr. Gardiner, and all expressed themselves pleased with 
the afternoon's entertainment. 



EVENING EXERCISES. 17 

THE EVENING EXERCISES. 

In the evening the Coliseum was filled to its utmost capac- 
ity ; and, with its tastefully trimmed balconies, its hundreds 
of bright school children, and its good-natured crowd of men 
and women, presented a most attractive scene. 

The National Home Band, stationed on the south side of 
the building, discoursed eloquent music while the people were 
gathering. 

At eight o'clock the Mayor and speakers entered the hall 
and took seats on the temporary stage at the north side of the 
building. Immediately in front and facing this stage were the 
school children of Gardiner, Randolph, and Farmingdale, some 
seven hundred in number, accompanied by their teachers. 
Upon the stage were Mayor Bussell, ex-Mayors Johnson, 
Clason, Berry, Walker, and Patten, Robert H. Gardiner, Josiah 
S. Maxcy, Henry S. Webster, Herbert M. Heath, the Rev. 
Langdon Quimby, the Rev. P. H. Reardon, F. E. Boston, 
G. D. Libby, Dr. F. E. Strout, and C. Everett Beane, who led 
the children in singing. 

Mayor Bussell called the company to order and introduced 
the Rev. Langdon Quimby, pastor of the Congregationalist 
Church, the oldest clergyman in point of service in our city, 
who made an impressive prayer. 

The Mayor then presented the Chairman of the evening, 
Robert Hallowell Gardiner, 3d, in the following words : 

Fellow-Citizens, Ladies, and Gentlemen : — 

You have probably noticed on your program that there is 
to be an address by the Mayor. I wish to correct this and 
apologize for the mistake, for my duty this evening consists 
only in introducing the Chairman, and the few words which 
I may say will come far short of being an address, and should 
not, by any means, be considered as such ; but, as the gentle- 
men who are to follow me are better prepared and will interest 
you more than I possibly can, in this case a poor lieginning 
really means a good ending. I fully appreciate that it is an 
honor to take even so small a part in these exercises as I do 



^g CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

this evemng, and that I do that part in a fitting and appro- 
t ate mann r is move than should reasonably be expee ted ot me. 
■^ iTm satisfied that no effort of mine can do ,ast,ce to th, 
Tt i, mv misfortune that I am not a native of 
rZ;, b I a7p::d to .. he. adopted son and than.ful 
fo"t Pdvilege of being present on this pyful occasion as a 

-^"^i^I^^o^seWes that we have a right to point with 
iust pride to our home city, to its past record and history 
ots present prosperity, and to the moral character and hig^i 
standing of its citizens; and, with its encouraging prospex^ts, 
we shouM have bright hopes for the future. While it is true 
that our city is not so large and prosperous as we would like 
to ee it, yet we can boast of a moral, intelligent, and intel- 
lectual community, our people generally being neither very 
rich nor very poor; and we enjoy many of the pnvileges, 
conveniences; and luxuries which are not to be had in many 
cities much larger than ours. I think most of us appreciate 
this, and are happy and contented to live here. 

We should be especially proud of the men and women 
who have been educated here, and who so conspicuously repre- 
sent our city and State in high places of honor and responsi- 
bility in other States and in foreign lands. While I would 
like to mention their names and what they have done for them- 
selves and their native city, I refrain from doing so, as what 
I could say would not do them justice, and would possibly 
interfere with the gentlemen who are to follow and will proba- 
bly touch on this subject. 

Possibly an explanation is due you why we hold our Cen- 
tennial exercises at this time. On March 21, 1803, Gardiner 
held its first town meeting and took up the active duties of a 
town. You therefore notice that our Centennial came on the 
21st of last March, but the committee who had the celebration 
in charo-e thought best to have it at this time, when they lo»)ked 
for better weather than in March. It seems that their ]udg- 
ment was not of the wisest. 




General Henry Dearborn. 



MAYOR BUSSELL'S REMARKS. 19 

Since we have assembled here this evening to assist in 
celebrating the one hundredth birthday of our beautiful and 
beloved city, let us enter into the spirit of the occasion and 
make this an event never to be forgotten. 

Gardiner was particularly fortunate in having for its 
founder Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, a man of brains, wisdom, 
energ3% and wealth, — a man who made many valuable gifts to 
the town and whose heirs and successors have always been 
greatly interested in the affairs of our city and the welfare of 
its citizens. 

When in 1850 our town became a city, it was fitting that 
one of his descendants, Robert Ilallowell Gardiner, should be 
selected as our first Mayor, which office he filled with ability 
and great credit to himself and honor to the city. To-night 
we have the pleasure of having with us a grandson of our first 
Mayor, Robert Hallowell Gardiner, whose historic old mansion 
and beautiful home at Oaklands we were to have had the 
pleasure of visiting this afternoon ; but, owing to the inclem- 
ency of the weather, which unfortunately we could not control, 
we were deprived of the pleasure of that visit and of the 
honor of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. I wish to thank 
them in behalf of our citizens for the kindly spirit they have 
shown and the great interest they have taken in this occasion, 
as well as for the generous manner in which they had provided 
our entertainment there and accorded us the privilege of 
inspecting that historic house which seems almost sacred to 
Gardiner citizens. To this we point with pride as one of our 
oldest landmarks, built, owned, and occupied by the Gardiner 
family, whose worthy representative lives there at the present 
time. Not alone because of his ability, but because of his 
good-fellowship and the esteem in which he is held by our 
citizens, I have the honor to invite him to act as Chairman of 
this meeting. He needs no introduction to the people of 
Gardiner, and it is a pleasure for me to present to you our 
esteemed fellow-townsman, Mr. R. H. Gardiner. 



20 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

In accepting the chair Mr. Gardiner spoke as follows : — 

Mr. Mayor : — It is with great pleasure and deep grati- 
tude that I accept from your hands the honor of presiding at 
this meeting ; and you, my friends and neighbors, who have 
gathered to hear the interesting addresses we are expecting, 
will pardon me, I am sure, if the few words with which I shall 
detain you are entirely personal, for I used no merely formal 
expression when I spoke of the pleasure and gratitude I feel 
at this honor. From the time when I was old enough to pass 
from the unstable fancies of a child to the fixed purpose of 
the boy who has set his face resolutely toward the goal he 
hopes to reach in manhood, I have always hoped that I might 
some day be your fellow-citizen, and have always cherished 
the ambition to be of some little service to you and to receive 
some honor at your hands. Your approval, your respect, 
your affection, have always seemed to me the honors chiefly to 
be desired, and while I am conscious how unworthy of them I 
am, in fact, as circumstances are, how little I could do to 
deserve them, even were I far wiser and better than I am, yet 
none the less I treasure the more eagerly every mark of your 
esteem ; and, if I may speak frankly, I do not think that I 
altogether delude myself when I feel that it is some pleasure 
to you to see me in this chair to-night, as it is the greatest 
pleasure to me to be here. 

It would be strange indeed if I did not feel so. Four 
generations of my forefathers have always had the welfare of 
this place closest to their hearts. To its founding, its develop- 
ment, to the establishment here of civilization, prosperity, 
education, and religion, they devoted all the talents God had 
given them ; and I should be afraid to meet them across the 
great river if I, too, did not feel for this place the affection 
which was the prevailing purpose of their lives. 

I can rejoice, too, with my grandfather, that the plans of 
his grandfather have not been realized. It often happens that 
the dreams of an intensely practical and efficient man, such as 
Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, have the essentials of true poetry ; 





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KEMARKS or ROBERT 11. GARDINER. 21 

and he dreamed a noble dream which he did his utmost to 
carry into reality. 

Here, when his keen eye saw the possibilities of indus- 
trial development, greater in his day than in ours, when the 
railroad, the mine, and the wheat field have fixed the indus- 
trial centres far from us, he planned to establish a great estate, 
where, for generation after generation, his descendants should 
reign supreme as lords of the manor, benevolent, indeed, but 
autocratic, each a law unto himself. To each such descendant 
he meant to give, by the ownership of every foot of ground 
for miles about, the power to regulate the community as he 
chose, while, by not possessing the power of alienation, each 
such descendant should be bound as closely to the soil as his 
tenants. Dr. Gardiner hoped that his descendants, so bound, 
yet possessing such power, would follow the example he had 
striven to set them, and that through their efforts peace and 
happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, might be 
established here for all generations, and so perpetuate his name 
by a monument more enduring than any triumph of the 
sculptor's art. 

It was, indeed, a noble dream ; yet, if I may compare 
small things with great, the time was close at hand, when, in 
the course of human events, it became necessary that it should 
pass away, and that every man who came to establish himself 
here should assume that separate and equal station to which 
the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle him. The great 
Declaration, against which Dr. Gardiner strove with all his 
force, made his petty kingdom, noble as he hoped that king- 
dom would be, forever impossible. We, who are descended 
from their loins, may surely be pardoned, if, while we call up 
for a moment the splendid plans of Dr. Gardiner, we take 
equal pride in his grandson, who, when yet a boy, saw, as his 
grandfather could not see, that there was a nobler future before 
him, and who therefore, by his first act on reaching manhood, 
surrendered the petty autocracy established for him, threw 
open his lands to sale, and encouraged their settlement by men 



22 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

who should not be tenants and dependents, but equals and 
friends. He saw that to be a free man in a free and independ- 
ent community was a higher honor than to be lord of any 
manor, however vast. He saw that the new doctrine of the 
equalit}^ of all men was but the old one of the obligation of 
every man to labor and to serve ; and to the welfare of his 
place he devoted his time, his fortune, and his strength. Nor 
was it without a rich reward, for who could hope a finer eulogy 
than that the community in which he had lived to more than 
fourscore years should say that from youth to age he had been 
their leader, benefactor, and godly example ? 

We, his descendants, shine by his reflected light. The 
affection and respect your fathers felt for him induces you to 
think more highly of us than we deserve. God grant that we 
may walk worthily in our forefathers' steps, and that, as long 
as the city lasts and our name endures, you and we and our 
descendants to the remotest generation may be ever more 
closely united by the bonds of mutual respect and affection. 

Mr. Gardiner then congratulated the children of the 
schools upon the formation of their Centennial Club, organized 
to assist in improving the appearance of the city. 

At the close of Mr. Gardiner's remarks the school children 
sang "America," with true spirit and enthusiasm, to the accom- 
paniment of the Togus Band. 

The Chairman then introduced Josiah Smith Maxcy, who 
delivered the foUowinof historical oration. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS, TOSIAH S. MAXCY, 23 

A BRIEF SKETCH OF GARDINER'S EARLY 
HISTORY. 

Three centuries ago (1604) a bold explorer sailing along 
the coast of Maine discovered the mouth of our river and took 
possession of it in the name of his King ; this was the first 
attempt of royalty to obtain a foothold upon the banks of the 
Kennebec River. On its shores, three years later, Pophaui 
planted his settlement and erected a fort which bears his name 
to this day. In 1625 the first trading with the Indians 
occurred, and four years later William Bradford and others of 
the Plymouth Colony were granted an immense tract in this 
part of the country, and, after vainly trying to settle the same 
and leasing it at times as low as ten pounds per year, taking 
their pay in moose and beaver, they sold it to four Boston 
merchants for £400. Further attempts were made to effect 
settlements, and in 1670 Alexander Brown made the first clear- 
ing within the present limits of Gardiner, built his log house 
upon the banks of the Kennebec nearly opposite Nahumkeag 
Island, and established a fishing settlement. Soon after, there 
was an uprising of the Indians ; Brown was murdered and all 
the settlements above Swan Island were destroyed. For half 
a century the country was abandoned to the Indians ; no further 
attempt was made to settle it until Fort Richmond was erected 
near the head of Swan Island, and yet so great was the dread 
of the Indians that in 1749 there were but two families above 
Merry meeting Bay. 

In that year a corporation, called "Proprietors of the 
Kennebec Purchase," but known as the " Plymouth Company," 
was formed, and among other lands it purchased a tract thirty- 
one miles wide, extending from Merrymeeting Bay to Nor- 
ridgewock, with the Kennebec River in the centre. This 
company was composed of some of the richest and ablest men 
from the neighborhood of Boston, the largest single owner 



24 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

being Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, one of the leading spirits in the 
settlement of this part of the country. At that time he was 
forty-two years of age, and was an enterprising, energetic 
man, with sound judgment and practical business talent. He 
was educated for the medical profession, established the first 
drug store in Boston, and from it accumulated a large fortune. 
To induce settlers to locate it was necessary to protect 
them from the Indians, and accordingly in 1754 the Company 
induced Governor Shirley of Massachusetts to erect a fort at 
Winslow, the blockhouse of which is still standing, and the 
Company themselves built Fort Weston at the place which is 
now Augusta. In December of that year Dr. Gardiner pur- 
chased what is known as the Cobbossee Contee Tract, which 
includes the site of the present city of Gardiner and some of 
the adjoining towns. No doubt he was attracted to this spot 
by the stream of water, which, with a fall of one hundred and 
thirty feet in less than a mile, was tumbling over the rocks, 
plainly indicating to him its future usefulness in driving 
machinery ; and he was also influenced by the fact that the 
depth of water in the Kennebec at this point showed that it 
was the head of navigation. He was chosen moderator of the 
Plymouth Company, and devoted much of his time and fortune 
to the development of these lands. He ran one of the first 
packets from Boston to the Kennebec, and was largely instru- 
mental in the settlement of Pownalboro. A year or two later, 
nearly a century after Brown's attempted settlement, he 
brought a small company of laborers here, and founded the 
plantation called Gardinerstown ; this was probably the first 
time that women and children came to this place. The settlers 
came up the river in boats, and, we are informed, landed in 
the cove north of the outlet of the Cobbossee Contee River, 
not far from the present foot of Spring Street. Hanson's his- 
tory tells us that Jonathan Winslow, the first white child native 
to the settlement, was born on the 23d of March, 1761, and 
that his parents then lived just west of the Bartlett and Dennis 
grain store on Water Street. Dr. Gardiner then built what is 



5. r 

O ID 

-^ o 



o 




HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JOSIAH S. MAXCY. 25 

known as our lower dam, erected a sawmill and a o-ristmill, 
also a fulling mill, a wharf, and several stores, and soon had an 
annual rent roll of about $(3,000. He built a mansion known 
as the " Great House," a reproduction of the old Court House 
still standing in Dresden, and located it where the Gardiner 
Hotel afterward stood. 

His son William, who was his local agent, planned to 
erect a large dwellino;, which was begun but never finished. 
This was located near the site of the Esmond homestead. He 
also had plans made for an extensive park to be laid out in the 
English fashion, and to extend from his dwelling to the river ; 
but these plans were never carried out. 

Probably the first census of this region was taken in 1764, 
when the enumeration in Gardinerstown, including all above 
Pownalboro (now Dresden) was two hundred. At that time 
Pownalboro, the largest place on the river, had a population 
of nine hundred. In 1763 the inhabitants erected a substan- 
tial bullet-proof blockhouse for protection from the Indians. 
It was located near where the Universalist Church stands. 

The gristmill was the only one in this part of the country, 
and settlers for from some thirty to fifty miles around were 
accustomed to come to it in their dugouts, by the water ways 
in summer, and on their snowshoes in winter, bringing their 
bags of corn to be ground. 

Dr. Gardiner was an ardent Churchman ; here he soon 
erected a Church edifice which he had dedicated by the "Frontier 
Missionary," Rev. Jacob Bailey, and in his will he left a liberal 
annuity toward its maintenance. Dr. Gardiner was a royalist, 
and upon the breaking out of the Revolutionary War remained 
faithful to the mother country. His family with others of 
prominence left Boston upon its evacuation by the British in 
March, 1776, and went to England, where they remained until 
the close of the war. It must have been a severe struggle for 
him to sail away almost penniless, abandoning his vast pos- 
sessions in Maine, besides a large amount of valuable real and 
personal property in the city of Boston ; but his course was 



26 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

that of many other wealthy men of the country who remained 
loyal to the established government rather than trust to an 
untried one. After peace was established he returned to this 
country, settled in Newport, R. I., and remained there prac- 
ticing as a physician until his death in 1786, at which time the 
flags of that city and those upon the shipping in the harbor 
were displayed at half-mast, and the newspapers spoke of him 
as one of their leading and most honored citizens. 

On February 4, 1779, the legislature of Massachusetts 
incorporated the town of Pittston, taking its territory from 
the plantation of Gardinerstown, which extended from Bow- 
doin to Hallowell, and until the 17th of February, 1803, when 
another act was passed incorporating all that part of Pittston 
lying on the west side of the Kennebec River as the town of 
Gardiner, the history of Pittston is our history. 

The greater part of Dr. Gardiner's property descended to 
his son, William, and at his death in 1787 to his grandson, 
Robert Hallowell, who was also the grandson of Benjamin 
Hallowell, for whom our neighboring town of Hallowell was 
named. Robert Hallowell was born in England, February 10, 
1782 ; came to this country in 1792 ; received his early educa- 
tion at Andover ; entered Harvard College at the age of fifteen, 
and graduated in 1801. His health was extremely delicate and 
for a long time it was feared that he would not live, yet he 
reached the age of eighty-two years, making his home in this 
place until his death, which occurred in 1864. He attained 
his majority about the time of the incorporation of the town ; he 
then assumed the name of Robert Hallowell Gardiner ; and, as 
he was the principal owner of the land, the town was named in 
his honor. 

From 1775 to 1803 the growth of our town had been slow, 
and for the most part unsatisfactory. During that period the 
title to the land had been in doubt and in dispute, and many 
men of influence who might otherwise have settled here made 
their homes in Hallowell and Augusta. Over a quarter of a 
century had elapsed since Dr. Gardiner's departure, and during 




Robert Hallowell Gardiner. 
Born 1782, Died 1864. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JOSIAH S. MAXCY. 27 

that time no one had properl}^ attended to the business interests 
of the proprietor. Gradually the mills, dams, dwellings, and 
wharves went to decay, tenants abandoned the property, and 
intending settlers were obliged to become squatters ; so, incred- 
ible as it now seems, when Robert Hallowell Gardiner came 
into possession of his estate there were only eleven families 
settled here who had titles to the lands they occupied ; all the 
others, eighty-six in number, had improper titles or were 
squatters. At that time there were only one or two houses on 
Church Hill, which was covered with a thick growth of pine ; 
and the valley of the Cobbossee was a dense forest, as was all 
of the country back from the Kennebec, with the exception of 
an occasional farm. No carriage road led out of our town in 
any direction, and within our limits there was only one ; this, 
less than a mile in length, extended from the New Mills to 
the river. 

We can readily see what a problem confronted the heir, 
then a mere youth, in poor health, born and bred in luxury, 
accustomed to the society of the best literary people in Boston, 
but with no business experience or training, with no wise 
friend to advise or direct him, in this new country where he 
had come into possession of these vast landed estates, without 
ready money or sufficient income to develop them. He treated 
the squatters equitably and generously, either buying their 
improvements at an appraisal or selling them the land at a very 
low figure. His course was in marked contrast to the treatment 
accorded the squatters by some of the other members of the 
Plymouth Company ; burning of buildings and even murder 
followed their attempts to dislodge the settlers ; and a reign of 
terror was inaugurated that, for a time, threatened the lives of 
members of the Company. Mr. Gardiner immediately repaired 
the dams and mills built by his grandfather, and offered liberal 
inducements for manufacturers to settle here. He found the 
" Great House," built by Dr. Gardiner for his own use, in bad 
condition ; many of the clapboards and much of the boarding 
had been stripped off and used for firewood by its tenants ; 



28 CENTENNIAL OF GAKDINER. 

he repaired it, and for many years after it was used as our 
town tavern. Since there were then no stores of any account 
in Gardiner and people were obliged to go to Hallowell for 
hardware, dry goods, and many other necessities of life, one 
of Mr. Gardiner's first acts was to build for our merchants 
what were, for that time, commodious stores. 

It is doubtful if there is in existence at the present time 
a single dam, mill, wharf, factory, or store, that was here when 
our town was incorporated ; and, with the exception of a few 
dwellings erected prior to that date, not a single stone or piece 
of timber now remains on its old location to tell the story of 
those days. 

When Mr. Gardiner came into possession of his property 
the land had not been surveyed, except in large tracts by the 
Plymouth Company, and one of his first acts was to employ 
an old Revolutionary soldier, Solomon Adams, to attend to this 
for him. He was engaged for several years upon this survey, 
and his map was completed and dated December 30, 1808. 
So accurate and conscientious was he in his work, that we 
have yet to find a single case where the land ever fell short of 
his measurements. 

Just a word as to the condition of the country when our 
fathers gathered in the old "Church house" on the 21st of 
March, 1803, for their first town meeting. We had hardly 
recovered from the effects of the lono; and devastatino- war for 
our independence. Opportunities for the education of youth 
were almost unknown, and with the greater part of the settlers 
it was a struggle for mere existence. Steam as a mode of con- 
veyance, either on land or on sea, was unknown. Communi- 
cation between different settlements was limited, and each 
community depended almost wholly upon its own exertions for 
its food, its clothing, and the other necessities of life. The 
pitch pine and the candle furnished artificial light, and the 
tinder box was in constant demand. Improvements have come 
so rapidly and so naturally that it is hard for the younger 
generation to realize the conditions of those days. Cook- 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JOSIAH S. MAXCY. 29 

stoves were unknown, and for heating and baking they depended 
upon the large old-fashioned fireplace in the kitchen, where 
the family would gather each evening after the day's work. 
Machinery was scarcely known ; so that nearly all labor on the 
farm, in the house, or the factory, was performed by hand, 
and the laborers toiled day after day from early morn until 
late at night. The great cities of the land had not been built ; 
the vast regions west of us were unknown ; and the northern 
part of our own State was indicated upon the map as an unex- 
plored wilderness. No one then could have dreamed of the 
useful machinery which has since appeared, and of the various 
appliances which electricity would supply to man to lighten 
his labors and improve his condition. The bright future now 
so well known was then wrapped in mystery. 

Under the laws of the time property qualifications were 
necessary for voting, and no one could exercise the franchise 
who did not have within the Commonwealth a freehold estate 
of the annual income of three pounds, or other estates of the 
value of sixty pounds ; and by this restriction, although we had 
a population of about six hundred and fifty, the number of 
our voters was limited. The record of our first meeting does 
not show the number, but at a meeting held a few days later 
thirty-six voters were present, and it was probably about this 
number that participated in the formation of our town one 
hundred years ago. 

By the act of incorporation the warrant for this first town 
meeting was issued by Jedediah Jewett, a justice of the peace, 
and directed to Dudley B. Hobart, "one of the principal inhab- 
itants," who was chosen moderator and presided at that meet- 
ing. Barzillai Gannett, Dudley B. Hobart, and William 
Barker were elected selectmen. At that time Mr. Gannett 
was probably the most useful and influential citizen of the 
town. He was our first postmaster, and held that office until 
1809, when he was elected a member of Congress. He held 
several other offices of trust and importance, and was a well- 
known figure in our early history. Dudley B. Hobart was 



30 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

also a man of considerable prominence, being a son-in-law of 
General Dearborn. He was Gardiner's first representative to 
the General Court. Major Seth Gay was chosen town clerk, a 
position which he held with credit for nearly half a century. 
The action of that meeting was similar to those of many others 
held in subsequent years, and is interesting to the reader of 
to-day. They raised $1,000 for the building and repairs of 
highways, $200 for schools, $200 for preaching, and $200 for 
debts and expenses, or $1,600 in all. They voted "that the 
money for preaching be laid out at the Church house," and then 
added "that the persons who regularly attend publick worship 
under the Methodists or Baptists shall be allowed to lay out 
their proportion of money raised for preaching in paying 
preachers of the aforesaid parishioners." They chose Ichabod 
Plaisted a committee for the Methodists ; James Lord and 
Abraham Cleaves a committee for the Baptists. They con- 
tinued by taxation to raise money for religious purposes until 
the year 1812 ; a custom which in all probability existed in 
few places in this country. At this meeting they chose twenty- 
three surveyors of lumber, showing that the lumber industry 
must have been our principal one. They also chose nine hog- 
reeves (an office that was filled by the newly married, or the 
extremely bashful members of the community ; and these 
officials must have been a necessity, as one year they chose 
twenty-seven) ; six tything-men, to see that the Sabbath was 
properly observed and to compel attendance at church and 
obedience when there ; and also a fish committee to look after 
our fishing industries, which at that time were laro-e and 
important. Fence viewers and field drivers to look after stray 
cattle were chosen then, and continue to be chosen to this day. 
At an adjourned meeting held a few days later they bid off the 
support of their only town charge to the lowest bidder for 
three shillings and six pence per week (eighty-seven and one- 
half cents) and cautiously added, "provided Pittston, which is 
legally responsible for his support, does not bid lower." 
Evidently there were misunderstandings in regard to such 



«< > 

l-rt ^ 

OS r-i 

ST O 

- ^ 

O 2 

1^ 




HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JOSTAH S. MAXCY. 31 

matters, then as now. In that year the largest resident tax, 
$28.56, was paid by Joseph Bradstrect. Mr. Gardiner's tax 
was 1175 ; and the whole amount assessed was about $800, only 
about one-half the amount appropriated at their first meetino-. 

These old records were well kept ; it is fortunate indeed 
that they have been preserved, and they will become of increas- 
ing interest as the years go ])y. 

Nothing illustrates the growth and changed conditions of 
our country better than its improved modes of transportation. 
In 1775 the mail came by packet in summer, and was brought 
once a month by men on snowshoes in winter. In 1787 one 
mail a week was received at Portland, and the Government 
was asked to extend this service to the towns on the Kennebec, 
sending there twice a month ; but the Government officials 
replied "that they could not send so far into the wilderness." 
In 1794 mail came once a week on horseback from Portland, 
by the way of Monmouth, crossing the river at Smith's Ferry 
and continuing to Pownalboro and Wiscasset. In 1808 it 
came by stage from Portland to Hallo well, and was then 
brought to Gardiner from Hallowell in the pocket of any one 
of our citizens who happened to be coming this way. Our 
roads were so badly constructed that it Avas not until 1812 that 
the Government officials consented to send the mail directly to 
Gardiner, and the stagecoach which carried it was probably 
the first to make an appearance here, George Washington 
died on December 14, 1799 ; and the news of his death reached 
Gardiner on the first day of January, 1800, eighteen days later. 
Swiftness of travel increased so rapidly that the news of the 
treaty with England in 1814 came through from Philadelphia 
in five days. Now we can easily breakfast in Gardiner, and 
take a not over-late supper in that city of Pennsylvania. 

The first railroad in this country was built in 1827 ; and 
the people of the Kennebec, always progressive and interested 
in the developments of this section, early investigated its 
advantages. In 1830 Mr. Vaughan, of Hallowell, delivered a 
lecture on railroads, which subject he had studied in England ; 



32 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

and in the course of his remarks he said "that he hoped to see 
the time when a man would be able by this mode of convey- 
ance to see the capitals of Maine and Massachusetts on the 
same day." Gardiner early took a leading part in the building 
of a road from Portland. In 1836, upon an application origi- 
nating in this city, the Kennebec and Portland Railroad was 
incorporated, with authority to construct a road from Portland 
to Augusta. Nothing was done, however, until 1845, when a 
committee was appointed to receive subscriptions, and George 
Evans, of Gardiner, was made president of the company. At 
a grand rally held in Augusta for the purpose of creating 
enthusiasm, Mr. Evans was the principal speaker, and in the 
course of his remarks said that, "eight years before, an 
engineer had made a survey and estimated that on account of 
the severity of our winters a road could be operated only two 
hundred days in the year, but he felt sure that this estimate 
was too small, and he would change the number of days to 
two hundred and ninety." He also remarked that "some 
might think the estimate of one hundred and fifty passengers 
daily from Augusta to Portland extravagant ; but he asked 
them to consider the throngs which crowded tbe decks of the 
steamers to Boston." He then added, "The truth is, that 
steamboats and railroads not only accommodate but make 
travel." As sufficient money to build the road could not be 
raised from individuals, it was necessary for the towns to loan 
their credit ; Augusta, Hallowell, and Gardiner voted large 
sums which assured the completion of the project. The first 
train of cars arrived in our city in December, 1851, and was 
hailed with great rejoicing on the part of our citizens. In 
1852 a railroad, to cost $272,000, was surveyed from Gardiner 
to Monmouth, a distance of seventeen miles, but the necessary 
capital to build it could not be secured. 

Gardiner was always a place of diversified industries ; 
and we can enumerate over thirty different ones that have been 
extensively carried on here in the past, but, on account of 
changed business conditions, have now gone out of existence. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JOSIAII S. MAXCY. 33 

The first two mills built were a lumber mill and a gristmill, and 
both of their industries have continued here uninterruptedly. 

Mr. Gardiner was not what the world terms a successful 
business man ; he was not an accumulator of money. He was 
a gentleman and a scholar, possessing fine literary and artistic 
tastes, and of the productions of his pen any one might be 
proud. Inheriting these vast landed possessions of thousands 
upon thousands of acres scattered through some forty-five 
towns in our State, had he possessed keen business instincts 
he might easily have been one of the rich men of the country. 
Soon after coming into possession of this property he erected 
expensive stone dams upon its heretofore unused privileges, 
and later spent vast sums of money in the purchase of flowage 
rights to enable him to store the water necessary for the oper- 
ation of the mills, — sums of money greatly in excess of the 
amount that was received for the privileges when sold. During 
his residence of over sixty years in this city he was actively 
identified by name and by his financial aid with nearly every 
business enterprise that was projected in the community. In 
1806 Mr. Gardiner, with others, built the first paper mill, 
which proved a very profitable investment ; for, although 
paper was then made by hand, the profits for the first eleven 
years were three hundred and seventy-five per cent., in addi- 
tion to the repayment of the original capital with interest. 
This, however, was soon lost by his experiments upon the 
introduction of machinery. One of the hand paper-makers of 
the olden time, who has lived in our city his fourscore years 
and ten, daily walks our streets ; and with his pleasant word 
and cheery face is always a welcome companion. Mr. God- 
ding's life is a fine example for the youth of to-day, plainly 
showing what industry, perseverance, and good habits will 
accomplish. There is another among us, the last example of 
the old-time merchants, who has followed his present occupa- 
tion for nearly seventy years. The life of Amasa Ring links 
the business customs of the past with the present, and by 
honorable dealing has alwaj^s commanded the respect of our 
community. 



34 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

Mr. Gardiner also built a fulling mill, a furnace, forge, 
nail and spike factory, a pail and tub factory, and a starch 
mill, some of which were financial failures. Of sawmills there 
were many ; at one time he had thirteen upon the lower dam, 
and year after year their repairs, taxes, and insurance greatly 
exceeded their income. Time and again he aided enterprises 
that proved disastrous, and his losses by fire, flood, and fail- 
ures were enormous. He was one of the largest investors in 
the stock of the Kennebec and Portland Eailroad, which invest- 
ment proved a total loss. Twice in his lifetime his principal 
manufacturing industries on the lower dam were swept away 
by fire ; yet he bore his losses with the best of grace and 
apparently with little concern. No one now questions that he 
made a mistake in not disposing of his water power instead 
of retaining and leasing it. The burden of supporting it and 
of fostering new and untried enterprises would then have been 
on other shoulders, and he would have reaped his profits in the 
increased value of his lands. 

In 1835 a land speculation craze swept over this country, 
and as indicating the absurd values placed upon property, we 
find that the lower dam was then bonded to George Evans, 
Parker Sheldon, and a promoter from New York, by the name 
of Usher, for the sum of $200,000, a price that seems incred- 
ible in these days ; but the bubble burst before the sale was 
effected. 

For years shipbuilding was one of our principal indus- 
tries. In 1784, while we were known as Pittston, our first 
schooner was built upon the banks of the Kennebec River, at 
a place called " Agry's Point," where the Independent ice 
houses were afterward erected. A small water power sawmill 
was built near the Agry shipyard, receiving its power from 
a dam on the stream that flows from Nahumkeag Pond into the 
river ; this dam was probably abandoned a century ago, but 
its location is still discernible. Around this mill and dam 
was a settlement known as Colburntown, and for a time it was 
a place of considerable activity and of some importance. A 



w 



9w 




HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JOSIAH S. MAXCY. 35 

few years later the shipyards were located further up the river 
and many of our citizens became interested in the business. 

The names of Grant, Bradstreet, Stevens, Chiy, Cooper, 
Young, and others became famous as builders, and white-winged 
messengers carried their flags all over the seas. Originally 
Gardiner was the headquarters of steamboat navigation upon 
our river, and remained so until within a few years. Captain 
Nathaniel Kimball, of this city, was one of the pioneers of this 
industry, and greatly contributed to its prosperity. He was 
followed by the Bradstreets and our well-known Captain Jason 
Collins, whose success as a steamboat manager has made him 
so justly noted. 

In looking over old records we find that in 1807 Mr. 
Gardiner secured an act of the Massachusetts Legislature, 
incorporating himself and thirty-four others into a Locks and 
Canal Company, to build a canal to transport freight and 
passengers from the Kennebec River through the Cobbossee 
Lakes into the Androscoggin, and thence into the Rangeley 
Lakes reo:ions. In order to build this it would have been 
necessar}^ to divert some of the waters of the Androscoggin 
into the Cobbossee, against which proceeding the mill owners 
at Brunswick protested, and, as soon as the work began, pre- 
vented its completion by an injunction. The cost of this 
canal was estimated at $60,000 ; surely a large enterprise for 
those days, but if it had been built its influence upon the pros- 
perity of this community must have been considerable. 

When Mr. Gardiner came here in 1803 he occupied the 
house built by his father, Robert Hallowell, about 1786, and 
now standing in Randolph. Although it is in the centre of the 
town, at that time there was no other dwelling within half a 
mile of it. In 1810 spacious grounds on the western side of 
the river were artistically laid out by him, and he erected a 
large wooden dwellinof where the stone mansion now stands. 
This was destroyed by fire in 1834 ; the stone house was built 
and first occupied in 1842. "Oaklands" has always been kept 
as a beautiful park ; is famous all over New England ; has ever 



36 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

been the pride of our town ; and fortunate indeed have we been 
in the free use of its driveways. Mr. Gardiner was always a 
liberal and generous entertainer, and nearly every one of note 
who journeyed in this part of the State Avas most hospitably 
received by him. In the early days, when the Judges of the 
Supreme Court of Massachusetts came to Maine on their 
annual circuit, those who were his personal friends would often 
pass one Sunday with him in his beautiful home on the banks 
of the Kennebec and the following one with the Vaughans 
at Hallo well. He numbered among his friends Webster, 
Chancellor Kent, Prescott the historian. Judge Story, Choate, 
Otis, Longfellow, Hawthorne, Dr. Kirkland, then President of 
Harvard, many professors of the University, and numerous 
other literary men of the day ; these were entertained by him 
either at his winter residence in Boston or in his home upon 
the banks of our river. 

In 1847 President Polk, together with the future Presi- 
dent Buchanan, and other noted men of those times, visited 
him, and upon that occasion Mr. Evans made one of his 
happiest and most telling addresses. President Polk said that 
" nothing on his journey had so pleased and affected him as 
Mr. Evans' remarks." 

Illustrious visitors appeared here in 1794, when Louis 
Philippe, afterward King of France, and Talleyrand, the wily 
old statesman, both of whom were in exile, visited General 
Dearborn and remained with him for several days. 

In 1775 General Washington issued an order to Major 
Eeuben Colburn, of Gardinerstown, to build two hundred 
bateaux for the transportation of Arnold's troops from this 
point on the Kennebec River along the various water ways to 
Quebec. Upon the arrival of the fleet which brought the sol- 
diers from Newburyport, it was ascertained that these boats 
were not sufficient in number to carry the men and their sup- 
plies, and the expedition was delayed a week, while twenty 
additional boats were hurriedly constructed. We are informed 
that during this delay General Arnold made his headquarters 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JOSIAH S. MAXCY. 37 

at the house built by Major Colburn in 1765. This house, in 
a good state of preservation, is still standing on the east 
bank of the river, and has always been in the possession of 
the Colburn family. 

We are informed that the first instructor of children in 
this region was one of our earliest settlers. Master William 
Everson. He had previously taught in Boston ; but there his 
methods did not keep pace with the times, and he emigrated 
to Gardinerstown, where the inhabitants were less critical. 
Here he taught from house to house wherever he could find 
employment. 

In those days the education of children was considered of 
little importance, and preaching and teaching were strangely 
mixed. In 1783 it was voted "not to pay for any schooling" ; 
but in 1785 the selectmen were "appointed as a Commity to 
hire a Schoolmaster and Fix the Wards ; who is to teach 
School ; and Reed a Sermon over every Sunday." In the year 
1787 it was voted "that Thirty Pounds be raised for School- 
ing, to be paid in Lumber or anything that the Schoolmaster 
will Receive." And in 1791 it was voted "to Raise Eighty 
Pounds for Schooling, to hire a person to keep school and 
preach nine months." 

The first schoolhouse in Gardiner was a rude wooden 
building of one room, without lath, plaster, or paint — rough 
inside and out. This was situated on Water Street, near 
where the brick gristmill now stands. Previous to the erec- 
tion of this building a school had been kept by a man named 
Hoogs in the southeast lower room of Doctor Gardiner's 
"Great House." In 1803, when Gardiner was incorporated, 
the only public school building within the present city limits 
stood at the corner of School and Dresden Streets, upon the 
lot now occupied by Augustus Bailey. 

Sometime in the early part of the century a private school 
building was built by subscription, located upon the lot on 
Dresden Avenue where the Cox dwelling now stands. Our 
townsman, Mr. William W. Bradstreet, attended this school, 



38 CENTENNIAL OF GAKDINER. 

and distinctly remembers its appearance. Among other stu- 
dents was Delia Tudor Stuart, a relative of the Gardiners ; 
she was afterward the mother of Charles Stuart Parnell, the 
famous Irish statesman. 

Probably one of the first technical schools in this country, 
if not the first, was the "Gardiner Lyceum," which was 
established by Mr. Gardiner and others in 1822. Before this 
school was opened letters were sent to prominent statesmen 
and literary men all over the country, asking for their advice 
and suggestions ; many encouraging replies were received, 
among others letters from ex-Presidents Adams and Jefferson, 
with both of whom Mr. Gardiner was personally acquainted. 
The purpose of this school was defined in a memorial addressed 
to the legislature, asking for a charter for " a school for teach- 
ing mathematics, mechanics, navigation, and those branches of 
natural philosophy and chemistry which are calculated to make 
scientific farmers and skillful mechanics." The first board of 
trustees were Robert H. Gardiner, Peter Grant, Sanford 
Kingsbury, Frederick Allen, John Stone, and Edward Swan. 
Mr. Allen almost immediately resigned, and Mr. Evans, who 
was deeply interested in the project, was elected in his place. 
The old stone building which the Lyceum occupied was erected 
in 1822 ; also a large boarding house for the use of the 
students. Dr. Benjamin Hale was elected principal and an able 
corps of instructors was selected ; among others Dr. Ezekiel 
Holmes, who later became Dr. Hale's successor. A workshop 
operated by water power was fitted with machinery for the use 
of the students, and a lot of land was utilized by them in 
agricultural experiments. In addition to a cash contribution 
Mr. Gardiner liberally aided the enterprise by large grants of 
land. He obtained an annuity from the State of $1,000 for a 
period of six years. The Governor of the State, the President 
of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and other prominent 
men made up its board of visitors, and for several years it 
was a flourishing institution. When the State withdrew its 
aid Mr. Gardiner became responsible for its support and 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JOSIAH S. MAXCY. 39 

annually advanced the necessary sums for its maintenance, but 
upon his refusal to continue this, it was obliged to close its 
doors. The building was then used for our town High School, 
and was destroyed by fire in the fall of 1869. It was an insti- 
tution that should have been perpetuated, and was capable of 
accomplishing a vast amount of good in the State. 

We will speak briefly of several important events which 
happened from time to time, and which affected the business 
and social interests of our community. In the early history 
of the town the people were obliged to attend to their banking- 
interests in Hallo well ; but in 1814 they organized the Gardiner 
Bank, and its directors were among our substantial l)usiness 
men. In 1834 they organized the Gardiner Savings Institution. 
These two banks have remained in existence ever since as 
state and national institutions, and have always been among 
the most honored and well-known organizations of their kind 
in Maine. 

In 1818 Moses Springer, Jr., who was somewhat of an 
astronomer, began compiling the now famous "Maine Farmer's 
Almanac," making his own calculations and weather predictions. 
As there was no printing office in Gardiner he was obliged to 
have this work published in Hallowell, which town for years 
was the literary and puljlishing centre of the Kennebec Valley- 
It was not until October, 1824, that our first newspaper 
appeared. This was called the "Eastern Chronicle," and was 
ably edited by Parker Sheldon. In 1828 Dr. Ezekiel Holmes 
published a scientific magazine, called "The New England 
Farmers' and Mechanics' Journal." It had able articles relat- 
ing to agriculture and scientific subjects, and it illustrated 
clearly and plainly the principal inventions that appeared in 
the year of its publication. Its comments on the new steam 
carriage which they expected would attain a speed of ten to 
eleven miles an hour, on the proper length of rockers for 
chairs, on the different styles of road carriages, and on simi- 
lar subjects, are amusing to the reader of to-day. During the 
infancy of the temperance movement the ablest and probably 



40 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

the most radical of its organs came from an office in Gardiner ; 
and one of its fearless editors, Mr. Hiram K. Morrell, still 
lives in our city. 

In the early years of the century an epidemic of spotted 
fever occurred, which was general in this place in 1818 and 
proved serious. It was so prominent and attracted so much 
attention that Dr. Enoch Hale, Jr., an uncle of Edward 
Everett Hale, published a large volume graphically describing 
it and giving a minute history of twenty-three of his cases. 

The beautiful old Episcopal Church of this city was built 
in 1820, of stone brought in boats down the stream from 
Litchfield, and at that time was called one of the best examples 
of Gothic architecture in the country. In its tower still swings 
the old bell whose echoes for upward of eighty years have 
floated over our little valley, daily calling our people to their 
morning toil and evening rest. When this church was built 
there was only one other Episcopal Church conducting services 
in Maine, the one in Portland. 

Our first liljrary was started in 1841 by the Mechanics' 
Association, which was composed of some of the ablest 
mechanics and young business men of the city. They had a 
fine debating society ; year after year they carried on an able 
course of lectures, and were an important factor in the char- 
acter-building of our youth. Their library was followed in 
the fifties by the Gardiner, Pittston, and Farmingdale Library ; 
later, in 1881, they were both merged in the Gardiner Library 
Association, whose history is familiar to us all. 

In 1797 Augusta built the first bridge that ever spanned 
the Kennebec ; and it was nearly sixty years later before 
Gardiner, to the great advantage of our business interests, 
followed her example. 

Illuminating gas appeared in the beginning of the century, 
but it was not until 1854 that works were erected in our city. 
Though with regard to improvements we were in advance of 
most of the cities of our size in the State, yet our people were 
so conservative that for a long time our streets were not 




Episcopal Church. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JOSIAH S. MAXCY. 41 

lighted, and in the first years of its existence the enterprise 
was a financial failure. 

On Gray's Wharf was stored by the Tudors in 1821 the 
first ice ever shipped from our river ; and this was probably 
one of the first instances in the world's history of the storage 
of ice for shipment. On account of freshets which destroyed 
the houses, the enterprise was soon abandoned, but was 
renewed by James L. Cheeseman in the late sixties. In the 
following years large fortunes were made by those engaged 
in the business, and our city soon became the headquarters of 
this immense industry. 

In 1820 Maine became an independent State. The people 
of Gardiner voted several times upon the question of separa- 
tion from Massachusetts, sometimes for and sometimes against ; 
but the final vote was unanimous. At that time the population 
and wealth of Gardiner were below those of Augusta, Hallowell, 
or Vassalboro ; yet the average individual wealth of our citi- 
zens was sixty per cent, above the average of each person in 
Maine. West Gardiner left us to become an independent 
town in 1850 ; and again a part of our territory was carved 
off in 1852, when Farmingdale desired and obtained a separate 
existence. 

We dropped our democratic town government in 1850 
and assumed the dignity of a city, whose fiftieth birthday we 
fittingly celebrated three years ago. 

We wish that we had time to say a few words concerning 
the temperance movement which swept over the country some 
sixty years since, and in which our citizens took a prominent 
part ; of the anti-slavery agitation carried on in the fifties ; 
and of the trying days during the Rebellion, for Gardiner did 
her part in the war, and her men and boys have always 
responded when called. 

Our later history is well known. One after another 
improvements have crept in, wonderful in their day, but soon 
accepted as a part of ourselves, until we possess nearly all of 
the comforts and luxuries of modern civilization. Our busi- 



42 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

ness street has been paved, our roads have been improved, 
and our park beautified. An electric light plant has been 
established and a water system introduced. We have bought 
and removed the toll from our bridge ; have built a railroad 
to Togus ; and by subscriptions have established industries 
that greatly aid and benefit us. Our paper industry, which is 
nearly a century old, is in the hands of strong and able men, 
whose buildings and machinery are of the best. The storage 
of our water system has been greatly enlarged and now fur- 
nishes us with an abundant and almost unfailing supply. 

Our churches and school buildings are in good condition, 
while the recent erection of fine business blocks gives our city 
a substantial and permanent appearance. There is very little 
poverty among us. Year after year our dwellings have been 
improved, and our many neat, attractive homes now speak of 
the happiness and contentment of our citizens. Our people 
have ever been brave when confronted with trouble. Three 
times, in 1844, 1860, and 1882, disastrous fires have swept 
away our leading manufacturing industries ; but each time 
they have been restored in new and better buildings. In years 
past the waters have carried away our logs and lumber, swept 
over our wharves, risen into our stores, and demolished our 
bridges ; but each time we have risen to the emergency and 
quickly repaired our damage. In the creation of new indus- 
tries we have worked shoulder to shoulder ; and while Gardi- 
ner in the past has been known as an enterprising, wide-awake 
business centre, it depends upon ourselves to maintain that 
reputation if we would be successful. 

Pag-es mio^ht be written of the brave men and women who 
had homes here in days gone by, and labored for the success 
of this community. Before and during the Revolutionary 
period our ablest citizen was Joseph North, who lived in our 
old "Gay Post Office Building," so-called, the old building which 
was removed a few years ago and which was built about 1762. 
He was our representative to the Provincial Congress in 1774, 
was afterward an officer in the Revolutionary War, and was 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JOSIAII S. MAXCY. 43 

then appointed one of our judges. It was a great loss to this 
community when he moved to Augusta. 

What a commotion must have been excited in our little 
hamlet when, at the close of a September day in 1775, 
Arnold's fleet sailed up our river and dropped its anchor near 
our shores ! Accompanying that disastrous expedition was a 
young and brave captain, who through that toilsome march 
to Quebec was one of its sustaining spirits. After serving 
with distinction through the Revolutionary War, his thoughts 
reverted to the l)right picture of our shores, and he returned 
to build a home in our midst. He was an able, vigorous 
man, who became the leader of our community and did much 
to quell the lawlessness of those days. An intimate friend of 
Washington, of Jefferson, of Madison, and of Monroe, each 
of these Presidents gave him positions of trust and of impor- 
tance. Washington made him Marshal of the District of 
Maine; Jefferson in 1801 made him his Secretary of War; 
Madison in 1812 appointed him Commander in Chief of the 
United States Army ; and Monroe sent him as Minister to 
Portugal. He was our first representative to Congress, and 
he was a man who commanded the admiration and respect of 
all who knew him. Fortunate indeed was it for this little 
community that he settled in our midst, for General Henry 
Dearborn was one of the strongest men of his times, and he 
has an honored place in our country's history. 

For eighty-seven years there lived in this neighborhood 
one of the brave Revolutionary soldiers, Nathaniel Berry, who 
was distinguished for having been one of Washington's Life 
Guards. At his death, which occurred in 1850, he was 
accorded a military funeral, and upon that occasion George 
Evans delivered an eloquent eulogy to an immense concourse 
of people who assembled to honor the soldier's memory. 

In my early business career it was my great privilege to 
meet daily one of nature's noblemen, Robert Hallowell Gardi- 
ner, 2d, or, as he was more familiarly known, Mr. Hallowell 
Gardiner. He was born in this city in 1809 ; and, with the 



44 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

exception of a few years passed in the South, lived here the 
greater part of his life. Quiet, gentle, and unassuming, but 
generous and sympathetic in the extreme, he was always will- 
ing and anxious to do all in his power to alleviate the distress 
of the unfortunate ; and we believe that he never refused his 
aid in a worthy cause. He dearly loved his ancestral home, 
with its beautiful hills, its winding valleys, and its magnificent 
trees, and could not bear to part with any of it. When asked 
to sell to the railroad the gravel bank known as "Mount Harry," 
he answered, quietly and sadly, "No, I cannot sell Harry; he 
has been with Tom and Dick all of his life. They would miss 
him; they would be lonesome without him." To his poetic 
and imaojinative nature these hills were as things of life. The 
Avorld was better for his cheerful presence and noble nature, 
and we cannot believe that he left behind a single enemy. 

Then there was Dr. James Parker, our onlj^ physician in 
1803, a successful practitioner and influential citizen. He was 
greatly interested in politics and was our representative in 
Congress in 1813 ; also Frederic Allen, for years one of our 
leading lawyers ; and besides those already mentioned there 
were the Gays, Grants, Byrams, Shaws, Swans, Bradstreets, 
Jewetts, Sheldons, and many others who were prominent in 
those early days. 

In 1847 the Episcopal Society of Maine unanimously 
elected as their first Bishop the Rev. George Burgess, of Hart- 
ford. He was consecrated upon his thirty-eighth birthday, 
and immediately came to this city, where, in addition to his 
duties as Bishop, he was made Rector of Christ Church, which 
position he held until his death, in 1866. He was deeply 
interested in all that concerned the political, the moral, and the 
spiritual life of our city. For several years he served upon 
our board of education, and by his suggestions and his per- 
sonal influence did much to increase the eflficiency of our 
schools. During the dark days of the Rebellion, when men 
trembled for the safety of the Union, he had implicit faith in 
the Government ; with his voice and by his pen he aided and 




The Rt. Rev. George Burgess. 
First Bishop of Maine. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS, JOSIAH S. MAXCY. 45 

encouraged those who were battling with treason. In his daily- 
life in our city, or when attending his duties in his church, he 
was ever kind, considerate, and thoughtful, making no distinc- 
tion between the rich and the poor, the learned and the 
ignorant, the godly and the erring. He was beloved by all 
who knew him ; his life and his example were an inspiration, 
not only to his parish, but to our entire conmiunity. Upon 
the wall of the old stone church which he loved so well, and 
wherein so many of his useful hours were spent, is engraved an 
epitaph which in a few words fittingly describes this noble man. 

"Learned, judicious, saintly ; 
Living for Christ and the Church ; 
Loving all, beloved by all ; 
Faithful in every trust, even unto death." 

George Evans was born in our neighboring town of Hall- 
owell in 1797. He graduated from Bowdoin Colleo;e at the 
age of eighteen, and then came to this city, where he studied 
law with Frederic Allen. Upon attaining his majority he was 
admitted to the bar, and during his residence of over forty 
years in our city he was among the ablest lawyers in this 
State. At the age of thirty-two he was elected a member of 
the National House of Representatives, where for twelve years 
he served with great distinction, and was then chosen United 
States Senator. Upon the financial questions of the country 
he became one of its first authorities ; and in statesmanship he 
was considered a peer of Clay, of Calhoun, and even of Web- 
ster, who was his intimate friend. Probably no man of greater 
ability has ever represented Maine in the halls of Congress, 
and through him our State, as well as our city, gained a repu- 
tation both national and lasting. 

Many words of praise could be said of Judge Danforth, 
the conscientious jurist, who passed the greater part of his 
life in our city ; of Noah Woods, who aided so many young 
men and women in their efforts to obtain an education, and of 
many others, who, at home among us in this beautiful Kennebec 
Valley, never became famous, but whose lives are as sacred 
and as well worth the telling as those which we read in history. 



46 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

It is a long journey from the first trip over our water 
ways in canoe or sailing vessel, from the spotted trail thread- 
ing the wilderness, from the sound of the ax that nearly two 
hundred and fifty years ago broke the forest stillness, down 
through the ages to a city teeming with life and activity ; a 
toilsome journey, filled with anxieties, burdened with cares, 
and saddened by losses ; a journey during which nothing but 
the hope of a bright future could have sustained its travelers. 
The younger generation, surrounded with all the comforts and 
luxuries of home, with all the privileges and advantages of 
schools and churches, with a government that guards and pro- 
tects them, can never realize the trials and dangers of the past, 
or how much we of to-day owe to our ancestors' indomitable 
patience, patriotism, and courage. The brightness of the 
future lies beyond ; no human eye can penetrate it, no pen 
can write or tongue describe it, neither can the wildest dream 
or flight of imagination foretell its mysteries ; all is veiled, 
and we must trust the same overruling Providence that 
directed in the past, to guide us safely through storm and 
sunshine to our haven of rest. 



After a selection from the band the following pictures, 
illustrating men and scenes of bygone days, were displayed 
upon a screen in the rear of the hall. 

Doctor Sylvester Gardiner. 

Old Post Office. 

Saint Ann's Church. 

Gardiner Lyceum. 

General Henry Dearborn. 

Robert Hallowell Gardiner. 

George Evans. 

Bishop Burgess. 

Robert Hallowell Gardiner, 2d. 

Judffe Danforth. 




The Honorable George Evans. 



POEM, HENRY 8. WEBSTER. 47 

Thanksgiving Dinner, G. A. R. Hall. 
John Goddinof. 
Amasa Rins. 



Then followed a poem by Henry S. Webster, entitled 



THE COMING OF THE SQUIRE. 

Little Gardiner lay snug by the Cobbossee shore, 

Not the Gardiner we know, but the Gardiner of yore, 

An infant just dropped from the motherly lap 

Of Pittston, then taking her afternoon nap, 

A custom she had in the year Eighteen-three, 

And which she still has if the truth is told me. 

If I were an artist with paint or with pen, 

I would show you a picture of what we were then ; 

You should see a plain hamlet with mill, inn, and store. 

Perhaps two of the last — I am sure there weren't four — 

About threescore of houses, built mostly of logs, 

Half of them had chimneys, the other half — dogs ; 

Streets which led up to pathways for man or for cow — 

But led not, like ours, to an annual row ; 

Some tillage where crops were exceeded by stumps. 

For waterworks nothing but wells without pumps — 

A plan which involved, as my judgment imparts, 

More burning of houses, less burning of hearts ; 

A little low church built of wood, not of stone — 

It was low because High Church was then quite unknown — 

Where they held their town meetings and sometimes had 

prayers ; 
And walled pastures like Wall Street, where bulls fought with 

bears. 
The people — but them I'll not try to describe, 
My pen is too skittish, it might jeer or gibe. 



48 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

And here I see many, both women and men, 

Whose kindred quite likely were living here then ; 

And I fear, should my Muse be too free or too "fly," 

That the blood in their veins might mean blood in their eye. 

So I thought I'd select a convenient occasion, 

Adapted somewhat to the style of narration, 

And bring on the stage just a few of the folks 

Who then will be free from all scurrilous jokes ; 

For they'll speak for themselves, and if you are offended, 

You may settle the score, not with me, but with men dead. 

Eighteen hundred and three was the year, as I've heard, 

When the scene I'm about to exhibit occurred. 

Should you wish — and some people are taken that way — 

To know with exactness the month and the day 

To which this discursive description relates, 

Ask Clason — you know that he's partial to dates ; 

In fact, one might say in a jocular mood 

That dates, new or old, are his favorite food. 

So I dare to assert, since he always is "in it," 

That he'll tell you the time to the hour and the minute 

When a rumor first came, brought by post or by packet. 

Which raised in the village the deuce of a racket ; 

For it said that the Squire, who had just come of age 

( Vide Hanson, Hist. Gardiner, one-ninety-fifth page), 

Was coming from Boston to make them a visit. 

And there was not a soul who was willing to miss it. 

So imagine the folk, every woman and man. 

Assembled in front of the Church of Saint Ann, 

Awaiting the Squire, who was known to be near 

And who shortly afterward reallj^ — But here 

I beg leave to retire and let one of the throng, 

As I promised before, take the subject along. 

Perhaps at this juncture you'll some of you claim 

That my speaker should have introduction by name. 

Or at least that a hint be judiciously dropped 

Where b}^ may conjecture be guided or stopped ; 



POEM, HENRY S. WEBSTER. 49 

And so, to escape your displeasure and frown, 
I will hold up a rule which I thought to lay down, 
And tell you in confidence — then I am done — 
That the man whom I quote was the son — of a gun. 



" Toot your fifes and beat your drums ! 
Roar like blazes when he comes I 
Lordy ! What a crowd we've found ! 
More'n a hundred I'll be bound ! 
Dame and daughter, son and sire, 
All turn out to see the Squire. 

"Neighbor Gannett ! Well, I swan ! 
Ain't he proud he's First S'lec'man? 
How he struts and stares about him, 
'S if they couldn't do without him ! 
Mister, by the great horn spoon ! 
Guess we'll have to hoop you soon. 

" There's the Colburns from Nahumkeag, 
There's Jim Price behind the rum keg ; 
Gen'ral Dearborn, Cap'n Berry, 
Old Sol Stiles who runs the ferry, 
Jewett, Barker, Gay, and Brickett — 
More than you can shake a stick at. 

"There's that Frenchman, little Jean, 
Stirs my British blood like sin ! 
Well, I won't get riled to-day. 
Come on, Jean, but don't get gay I 
Blamed if there ain't Squanto, too ! 
Say, Big Injun, how be you? 



50 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINEE. 

" Gosh ! There's Ellis and McGraw, 
Settlers here by Squatters' Law. 
Shouldn't wonder if they found, 
When the Squire comes nosing round, 
Paying debts and keeping quiet 
Makes a pretty healthy diet. 

"There's the Browns from Purgatory, 
Gran'pa, gran'ma, too, by gorry ! 
Jerry in his coon-skin cap, 
Bess, two babies in her lap. 
Bill, Jim, John, Sam, Dan'l, Lew, 
Ann, Sue, Sarah, Ruth, and Prue. 

"Well, if there ain't Deacon Cook, 
All the way from Bombahook ; 
And there's Granny Grimes, the witch, 
Little use we've got for sich ; 
Hope she'll cast no evil eye 
On the Squire as he rides by. 

"Girls with ribbons, beaus, and graces. 
Lads with smiles upon their faces, 
Barking dogs and shouting boys, 
Lots of fun and lots of noise. 
Ain't it bully? Ain't it gay? 
There he comes ! Hooray ! Hoor-a-ay ! " 



'Pi 

Thus the youthful Squire has come | 

'Mid the sound of fife and drum, :f 



And the greetings, warm though rude, 

Of the rustic multitude. 

As a monarch to his throne 

Came the young Squire to his own 



Of the rustic multitude. !f\ 

As a monarch to his throne "i 



POEM, HENRY S. WEBSTER. 51 

Came to dwell from youth to age 
In his goodly heritage ; 
Came to wrestle with and doom 
The black forest's savage gloom ; 
Came to see the wilderness 
Shrink apace to less and less, 

And the tumbling Cobbossee 
Change its antics, bold and free. 
For the sober, steady strain 
Now imposed by curb and chain. 
Sprite to labor reconciled, 
Nature's tamed and patient child. 

Matters not what visions vain 
Floated through his youthful brain, 
Of a mild, submissive folk 
Bowed to his paternal yoke. 
Like retainers round the board 
Of some old-time, foreign lord. 



Came such dreams to him that day. 
They were doomed to fade away, 
For no vassal blood remains 
In the hearts and in the veins 
Of the men who hold their sod 
Sacrosanct to Freedom's God. 

Yet we treasure up his fame. 
Linked to ours by deed and name. 
For the impulse which he sent 
Through each living filament 
Of our little civic State, 
Time will lengthen, not abate. 



52 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

Love and praise to him belong, 
Thouo-h amid that cheerinor thronsr 
Hearts there were which beat as true, 
Hands there were as strong to do, 
Brains there were as quick to seize 
Life's unraveled mysteries. 

Not alone the rich and great 
Frame, erect, support a State ; 
To complete the grand design 
Strength with beauty must combine, 
Granite base be built as well 
As high tower and pinnacle. 

Honor, then, and fair renown 
To the fathers of our town, 
Whether stone and tablet tell 
Of the deeds they did so well. 
Or the grass neglected waves 
O'er their unremembered graves. 

Theirs the hands which sowed the seed. 
We the reapers. Yet we need 
Oft to ponder this anew. 
Reapers, we are sowers, too. 
Bright or dark be Gardiner's fame. 
Ours the glory or the shame. 

Let us, then, with common aim 
Guard the prestige of her name, 
That the struggles, toils, and tears 
Of a hundred garnered years 
May to future lives express 
Glory, grace, and fruitfulness. 



ODE, LAURA E. RICHARDS. 53 

The following ode, written for the occasion by Laura E. 
Richards, was then sung by the school children to the air 
"Gaudeamus." 

ODE. 

Where the North in gold and blue 

Bends its high, triumphal dome. 
Sons of freedom, stanch and true. 

Here our fathers made their home. 
Cleared the forest, climbed the hill. 
Tamed the stream to meet their will. 
Toiled and wrought with patient tool. 
Reared the church and built the school. 

Field and river lent their aid 

To the stern and hardy band ; 
Glad the pine-tree spread his shade, 

Gladly bloomed the lovely land. 
Sang the birds their welcome sweet. 
Sprang the flowers beneath their feet. 
And the north wind, blowing free, 
Greeted men as bold as he. 

Prowling beast nor savage foe 

Could their faithful hearts dismay ; 

Scorchino; sun nor blinding snow 

Turned them from their steadfast way. 

Restless brain and tireless hand. 

So our pleasant town was planned ; 

Building fair for men to see. 

So they wrought for you and me. 

O'er us still the northern sky 

Bends its dome of airy gold ; 
Honor we their purpose high. 

Honor them, the men of old ! 



54 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

God, beneath whose awful eye 
Centuries like moments fly, 
All our times be in Thy hand ! 
Bless our home and bless our land ! 



Hanson tells us that about 1790 Mr. Robert Hallowell 
brought to Pittston the first wheel carriage that ever came to 
this vicinity, a venerable chaise already outlawed by fashion 
in Boston. It was one of the first chaises built, and was 
called by the owner the "Parish Chaise," for the appropriate 
reason that the whole parish l)orrowed it. The following 
poem, written by Gertrude E. Heath, aptly describes it. 



THE PAEISH CHAISE. 

In days of old, the tale is told, 

Good Master Hallowell's English gold. 

With good intention, 

A rare invention 
Bought of the owner, who marked it "sold." 
(A bit for the buyer as well, I hold.) 

Wheels it had, and a lumbering seat. 

Hood overhead, and a floor for feet ; 

As an antique wonder it couldn't be beat. 

The people flew to the doors to spy 

What Thing of Satan was tearing by ; 

The children hid in their mother's gown 

When this strange apparition appeared in town 

Each dog went fleeing with folded tail. 

Till the very milk in the pans turned pale ; 

But on it rolled, till it seemed a speck. 

And the gallant driver was still on deck. 



POEM, GERTRUDE E. HEATH. 55 

But, little by little, the people found 

No way like this to cover the ground ; 

And the Parson came, with his hat in his hands, 

Slick and shining from boots to bands. 

Begging to borrow 

The chaise to-morrow, 
To see his parish and soothe their sorrow. 
And Robert of Hallo well bowed his head, 
'Take it and welcome, sir ! " he said. 

And the carpenter came, with his hammer and rule. 
And the pedagogue grim, on his way to the school, 
And Robert of Hallo well every day 
Spake like the Quaker, and answered, " Yea ! " 
And the blacksmith came, and he begged a ride 
To Mooselookmeountic to bring; him a bride. 

And the lawyer big, 

With his powdered wig. 
Butcher and baker borrowed the rig. 

The farmer's dame she drove into town 
To buy her daughter a linsey gown ; 
No soul in the parish, far and wide. 
But came to His Honor and beg^ged a ride. 
And Robert of Hallowell said, said he, 
'Tis plain this invention is not for me ; 

For when I would roam 

It is never at home. 
But abroad in the parish its tracks I see." 

'Tis a hundred years, or 'tis thereabout. 
Since this public conveyance at last gave out ; 

But there's lasting praise 

For the olden days. 
And a rollickinsr cheer for the Parish Chaise. 



56 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

The last speaker of the evening was the Hon. Herbert M. 
Heath, of Augusta, a native of Gardiner. Although he spoke 
briefly, his remarks were greatly enjoyed by those who heard 
them. Mr. Heath compared the school privileges of forty 
years ago with those of the present, and emphasized their 
improvements. He called these centennials blessed educators 
for old and young, and said that " it was a grand thing to stop 
in the busy whirl of life and look back a hundred years." He 
showed that America is to-day, in civilization, integrity, and 
real Christianity, stronger and better than ever before in her 
history. He said that a century ago there was greater intel- 
lectual disparity between our citizens than now. He closed 
with an eloquent allusion to the fact that man is continually 
enlarging his sphere of action and improving his mental status. 

"Home, Sweet Plome," was then sung by the audience; 
an appropriate prayer and benediction was given by the Eev. 
P. H. Reardon, of St. Joseph's Church, and our Centennial 
Celebration became but a page of Gardiner's history ; a page, 
however, to which we may turn again v/ith the zest of pleasant 
memories. 



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ACT OF INCORPORATION. 57 

ACT OF INCORPORATION. 

" Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the year of our Lord 
One Thousand, Eight Hundred and Three. 

" AN ACT to divide the Town of Pittston, in the County of 
Kennebec, and to incorporate the west part thereof into 
a Town by the name of Gardiner. 

"Section 1. Be it enacted by tlie Senate and House of 
Representatives in General Court assembled, and the authority 
of the same, that the Town of Pittston, in the County of Ken- 
nebec, be, and the same hereby is, divided into separate Towns 
by Kennebec River ; and that the western part of said Town, 
as described within the folio wins; bounds, to wit : Beffinninof 
on Kennebec River, aforesaid, at the northeasterly corner of 
the Town of Bowdoinham, thence running up said River, in 
the middle thereof, to the south line of the Town of Hallowell, 
thence west northwest, on the aforesaid south line, to Cobbos- 
see-contee stream, thence southerly by the easterly margin of 
said stream to the northwest corner of Bowdoinham, aforesaid, 
which is on the southerly side of and near the outlet of First, 
or Pleasant Pond, thence east southeast on the north line of 
said Bowdoinham to the first-mentioned bounds, with the 
inhabitants therein, be, and the same hereby are, incorporated 
into a distinct Town, by the name of Gardiner. 

"Section 2. And l)e it further enacted, that in all State 
Taxes which shall be required of said Towns, until a new 
general valuation shall be taken, the sum of one dollar and 
fifty-three cents, on one thousand dollars, with which the town 
of Pittston is now charged, shall be divided equally between 
said Towns of Pittston and Gardiner. 

"Section 3. And be it further enacted, that the inhal)i- 
tants of said Town of Gardiner, and the non-resident propri- 
etors of real or other estate therein, shall pay all arrears of 
taxes, which have been legally assessed upon them, by the 
Town of Pittston prior to the passing of this Act ; and in like 



58 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

manner shall they pay an equal proportion of all debts now 
due and owing from the said Town of Pittston, and shall also 
be entitled to receive an equal dividend of all debts or moneys, 
now due to said Pittston, from collectors or other persons. 

"Section 4. And be it further enacted, that the Town 
Magazine of Military Stores shall be estimated and equally 
divided between said Towns of Pittston and Gardiner ; and in 
case there are any balances of money which have been raised 
by the Town of Pittston, and apportioned to the School 
districts, for the education of children, now due to either of 
said districts in the Town of Gardiner ; the same shall be paid 
over by the Treasurer of said Pittston to the Treasurer of said 
Gardiner. 

"Section 5. And be it further enacted, that the inhabi- 
tants of said Towns of Pittston and Gardiner shall be charge- 
able in equal proportions with the expense of supporting the 
poor, who at the time of passing this Act are the proper charge 
of the Town of Pittston ; and if any person or persons here- 
tofore belonging to the town of Pittston aforesaid, and having 
removed thence, shall be returned thither again, and become 
a public charge, the same shall be paid equally by the said 
Towns of Pittston and Gardiner. 

" Whereas there is a Religious Society, incorporated by the 
name of the Episcopalian Society, in Pittston, consisting of 
members from various parts of said Town, and the house of 
public worship being on the west side of Kennebec River, and 
whereas, doubts and disputes may arise in regard to the oper- 
ation of this Act on said society, Therefore, 

"Section 6. Be it further enacted, that this Act shall 
not extend, nor be construed to extend, to the infringement or 
annulling in any manner or degree whatsoever an act entitled 
'An Act to incorporate a number of the inhabitants of the Town 
of Pittston, in the County of Lincoln, into a parish by the 
name of the Episcopalian Society in Pittston,' 

"Section 7. And be it further enacted that Jedediah 
Jewett, Esq., be, and hereby is, empowered and required to 






ifS 







313. 









CONGREGATIONAMST ChUKCH. 

As erected in 1836. 



ACT OF INCORPORATION. 50 

issue his warrant, directed to some principal inhabitant of said 
Town of Gardiner, re(]uiriTig him to notify and warn the inhab- 
itants of said town qualiiied to vote in town affairs, to assemble 
at such time and place in said town as shall be expressed in said 
warrant, to choose all such officers as other towns within this 
Commonwealth are by Law authorized or required to choose, 
in the month of March or April, annually, and to transact such 
other matters and things as may be necessary and lawful at 
said meeting ; and the officers chosen as aforesaid shall be 
qualified as other town officers are. 

"Approved by the Governor, 

"Caleb Strong. 

"February 17, 1803." 



60 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

GARDINER IN THE LAST HALF CENTURY. 

BY WILLIAM MORRELL. 

A date near the beginning of the last half century of the 
history of Gardiner as an incorporated town may be regarded 
as the dividing line between the old and the new. The 
younger generation of to-day can have little idea of what that 
means, and only those whose riper years have l>een blessed 
with memories unimpaired can realize fully the magnitude of 
the changes which these years have brought about, not only 
in material things, but in the moral and intellectual status of 
our people. 

A period of time extending over little more than a decade 
witnessed the introduction of coal, gas, kerosene oil, the tele- 
graph, the railroad, and the construction of the Gardiner and 
Pittston Bridge. The telegraph preceded the railroad by about 
a year, the office being connected with that of the " Cold Water 
Fountain" newspaper. The editor, Freeman Yates, was the 
first operator. After his retirement Mr. H. L. Weston, one 
of the publishers, officiated as operator, until the increasing 
business made a more convenient office and a constant attendant 
necessary. The business was light at first, business men being 
slower to adopt new methods than at present, and it was a 
long time before the lines were used much excepting in cases 
of emergency. 

The first coal stove was set up in 1851, and coal oil, as it 
was then called, was introduced at about the same time, the 
price being one dollar and fifty cents per gallon. None but 
those who can remember the days, or rather nights, of whale- 
oil lamps and tallow candles can appreciate fully the impor- 
tance of this factor in the life of the community. "Burning 
the midnight oil " offered few temptations to sensitive olfacto- 
ries or defective eyesight when whale-oil, or the still more 
offensive tallow candle, was the only means of illumination, 
and little reading was done by the masses compared with 
what is done now. 



LAST HALF CENTURY, WILLIAM MORRELL. 61 

Most important among the causes which have revolution- 
ized the business of our city was, of course, the railroad. 
Previous to this all transportation was by water, and during 
the summer season the wharves along our river front were the 
scene of great activity and interest. All the lumljer manu- 
factured up river was brought here in great rafts to be shipped, 
which gave employment to many men. It was common to 
see as many as thirty or forty vessels at a time lying at the 
wharves, while the streets were thronged with their crews, 
stevedores, and river men. As this motley crowd was largely 
composed of a class of men not distinguished for lamblike 
qualities, there were little episodes constantly occurring to 
make life interesting, and the police department was not con- 
sidered a strictly ornamental institution. Whatever may be 
said of the moral status at the time, Gardiner had not arrived 
at the period when dullness was its prominent characteristic. 
The river was the great artery through which pulsated the life- 
blood of the towns alono; its banks. 

There were nearly always rival lines of steamers running 
to Boston, and the competition was characterized by an acri- 
monious intensity hardly understood to-day. The agents of 
the different boats would stand on the corner by which all 
passengers had to pass, and underbid each other for patronage. 
On one occasion, after the fare had been reduced to twelve 
and a half cents, one agent announced that his boat was carry- 
ing free, at which his rival promptly offered the same terms, 
with a free supper by wa}' of premium. Every man, woman, 
and child was a partisan of one boat or the other, and would 
sret as excited over discussing- the merits of the different boats 
as though they were the owners. Life among us was confined 
within narrow bounds, and what our feelings lacked in breadth 
they made up in intensity. 

It has always been a question with many whether or not 
the railroad was any benefit to Gardiner. They claim that 
when the river was the only way of transportation, Gardiner, 
being practically the head of navigation, possessed advantages 



62 CENTENNIAL OF GAEDINER. 

which were lost as soon as the railroad passed through. This 
is plausible reasoning, and true to a certain extent ; but other 
changes in industrial conditions have had still greater influ- 
ence — changes which have affected nearly all New England in 
like degree. 

As a community we were wild over the prospect of the 
railroad, just as other towns alwaj^s are. The man would have 
been considered a misanthropic pessimist who dared to doubt 
the town's having at least twenty thousand inhabitants inside 
of ten years after the trains began to run. Everybody who 
could raise a hundred dollars bought a share of railroad stock, 
an investment whose only merit seems to have been its 
permanency. 

So we jogged along, enjoying great prosperity in antici- 
pation, but taking our accustomed punishment by fire and 
flood, growling about our taxes and the inefiiciency of our 
ofiicers, very much as we do now, with nothing particularly 
important in our civil life to chronicle until the breaking out 
of the war. 

The part Gardiner played in that great struggle has been 
celebrated in song and story, and is familiar to all ; but the 
great changes in the way of life which it caused for us and for 
posterity can hardly be estimated. It seemed as if all the 
ideas of life to which we were accustomed had been suddenly 
eliminated, and an entirely new condition of things substituted. 
The sound of fife and drum in every village imparted the air 
of a military camp, and a general feeling of unrest and insta- 
bility predominated. Soldiers were everywhere, and, as after 
the first enlistments they received large bounties, which most 
of them proceeded to get rid of as soon as possible, money 
seemed to lose its normal value, and reckless expenditure suc- 
ceeded the parsimonious and frugal habits to which we had 
been accustomed. Almost immediately after the war began, 
every vestige of specie disappeared, and the difficulty of mak- 
ing change was a serious one. Postage stamps were used and 
passed from hand to hand until worn out. The traders on the 



LAST HALF CENTURY, WILLIAM MORRELL. 63 

street were obliged to issue money of their own, in the shape 
of little pieces of cardboard, in multiples of five cents up to 
fifty. Of course this was illegal, and the stuff easily counter- 
feited, which was done to quite an extent ; but there seemed 
no other way to get along until the Government issued the 
fractional currency, all the substitute we had for several years 
in the place of change. 

Money being plenty and cheap, and growing cheaper 
every day as the issue of the conflict became doubtful, its pro- 
fuse expenditure was the natural result. All business was 
booming. Depreciated currency enabled the debtor class vir- 
tually to pay their debts at a discount, according to the state 
of the currency at the time, while their assets and profits 
increased at the same ratio. There was a great demand for all 
kinds of productions, and price was no object. 

That such a state of things should have begotten a cor- 
responding lowering of the general moral sentiment in business 
methods is not remarkable, nor that it should have led to the 
creation of extravagant habits, and the cultivation of more 
expensive tastes in ways of living than those to which the 
community generally had been accustomed. The sudden and 
enormous demands of the Government on the productive 
interests of the country made possible this rapid accumulation 
of large fortunes, and gave corresponding opportunities to 
those doing business in a smaller way. Our Uncle Samuel 
was not only spending his income, but rapidly dissipating his 
principal, of which everybody was ready and willing to take a 
share. It was a great dance for those on the floor, but one for 
which posterity has to pay the fiddler pretty dearly. 

The only important events directly affecting the interests 
and welfare of the city since the war are the paving of Water 
Street, the establishment of the waterworks, and the partial 
construction of the sewer system. 

None but those who can remember the condition of Water 
Street in the spring and fall can appreciate the value of the 
paving investment. A quagmire from the foot of Libby Hill 



64 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

to the lower end of Water Street, of unknown depth and con- 
sistency, composed of all the garbage and impurities natural to 
the activities of a busy street, it could hardly be told at what 
point it was most disagreeable and dangerous, w^hen wet or 
when dry. Like most good things, while we know what it 
cost, we have no means of estimating the benefits of our pav- 
ing, because they come to us in so many indirect ways. 

The assumption of the ownership of the bridge across the 
river was a transaction of rather more benefit to the public at 
large than to Gardiner in particular. It could hardly be fore- 
seen that business changes would greatly reduce the use of it 
to Gardiner people or that it would be carried away by a flood 
so soon. 

Undoubtedly the one enterprise which transcends all others 
in importance to the comfort and well-being of the city was 
the introduction of the waterworks. The event is of so recent 
occurrence that it is unnecessary to draw comparisons between 
the old and the new in this connection. 

Gardiner was always a town of small industries, owned 
and operated mostly by its own citizens. The tendency of 
modern business methods is to kill off small concerns, and to 
concentrate all branches of manufacturing in large establish- 
ments. The natural outcome of the introduction of machinery 
has been to bring about this result. Before the days of shoe 
factories every shoe store emploj^ed a crew of workmen, and 
every town of the size of Gardiner found business for a tan- 
yard or two, besides dealers in leather, hides, and other things 
connected with the business. It was the same with carriage 
making and wood working of all kinds. Gardiner was some- 
what noted for the diversity of its industries, and had the rep- 
utation of being a busy town ; but everything was done on a 
comparatively small scale, and the volume of business, in what 
we look back upon as its best days, was probably less than it 
is to-day, while the capital invested in manufactures was very 
much less than at the present time. Without statistics at hand 
it is not a wild guess that the pay roll of our present shoe 



M 

W g 

S. o 

o O 
" w 

00 C 




LAST HALF CENTURY, WILLIAM MORRELL. 65 

factory will exceed that of the entire town sixty years ago. 
Our business was of a character to make consideraljle stir, as 
most of it required much teaming, and Water Street seemed a 
busy place, but the railroad up the Cobbossee has changed all 
that and does the work of a good many teams, with less noise. 

It is a favorite pastime of most old people to compare the 
cost of living in the old times with that of to-day. If we 
should also compare the kinds of living we should find a still 
greater difference. In those times we didn't have most of our 
daily food done up in dainty, artistic packages, costing nearly 
as much as the food itself. We didn't have the grocery man 
come to our houses two or three times a day, and after that 
telephone him to bring up a yeast cake. We had neither the 
telephone nor the yeast cake, but took the staff of life mostly 
in the form of good, yellow saleratus biscuit, with dyspepsia 
plainly apparent all through it. We didn't have street lights, 
and in the winter we walked in the road, because what few 
sidewalks we had were buried in snow and never cleaned. Our 
taxes were lighter and we had less to pay them with. Our 
water supply in most houses was from an old molasses hogs- 
head at one corner of the house, in the proportion of one drop 
of water to two mosquitoes in embryo. Taking baths was a 
habit not yet beyond the intermittent stage. When cisterns 
came into more common use they were regarded as a distinct 
advance in civilization. 

It is said that a good criterion by which to judge of the 
civilization of a people is the amount of soap they use. This, 
of course, implies the quantity of water also, which, if true, 
illustrates most fully the difference between the ways of living 
in the old time and the new. 

The whole tone of our life as a community is on a higher 
plane. We have cleaner streets, better dwellings, more neatly 
kept premises, all of which have an elevating effect on society 
in general. 

The lawn-mower was a thing unknown forty years ago ; 
but it is an important factor in the beautifying of our homes 
and streets at the present time. 



QQ CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

The professional rowdy has disappeared. If there is no 
less vice, it is certainly less apparent, and the fact that it has 
the grace to hide itself may be considered a gain. 

To the revolution in our business affairs many causes have 
contributed, some applicable to the whole country, and others 
affecting our immediate section. Labor-saving machinery has 
so increased the productive capacity of labor that all manu- 
facturing industries are running on a smaller margin of })rofit, 
necessitating the doing of business on a larger scale, and the 
elimination of the smaller concerns. Gardiner is a conspicuous 
example of this change in business affairs, as most of our 
business in the past was in the nature of small individual 
enterprises. 

Our water power has always been employed in manufac- 
tures requiring great power for the labor employed, a fact more 
in evidence to-day than ever before. This has had the effect 
of keeping the population within limits which seem hardly to 
correspond with our apparently natural advantages. 

In the old days, when we were shut in through the long 
winters, we were a little world by ourselves, and small affairs 
assumed greater importance than they do now. We knew 
less, perhaps, but felt more, and our theories and beliefs, 
whether in politics or religion, were likely to be of a rather 
intolerant order, which affected social conditions much more 
than at present. The level of society is a broader one. 

Millionaires are not very plenty among us, and the spirit 
of exclusiveness in social life is less apparent than it is in 
most places of the size of this. Of the class who do nothing 
nine months of the year and go away to rest the other three, 
we have but few. 

That we have made a steady advance, as a whole, in the 
essentials of a broader, fuller life — in the line of more attrac- 
tive and more comfortable homes, better schools, cleaner 
streets, and better sanitary conditions — must be apparent to 
the most pessimistic observer. When we feel disposed to 
grumble about our expenses it will be well to take into account 



LAST HALF CENTURY, WILLIAM MORRELL. 67 

the fact that water will run downhill in spite of the most 
accomplished street commissioner, and that we have a crood 
many hills ; that if we must have an electric light on our cor- 
ner and a new sidewalk on our street and all the accessories 
of a high state of civilization, we must have also the accompa- 
nying high rate of taxation. Thus if, after counting the cost, 
we can lind a balance in our favor, where we have given full 
value for the benefits we receive, in the things which tend to 
broaden and strengthen our lives, to be transmitted with 
increasing effectiveness to those to come, then we may say of 
our century-old town, though it may never make a distin- 
guished record on the page of history, it is a good place in 
which to live. 



68 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 



Capt. Jason Collins was born on the 22d day of February, 

1817. The first steam craft on the Kennebec River came in 

1818, the first steamboat came in 1819, so his life spans the 
history of steam navigation in this vicinity. As a boy he saw 
this first steamboat. As a boy he saw the launching of the 
first steam vessel built at this place. In 1836, when nineteen 
years of age, he was employed in the engineers' department on 
the steamer " New England," and for a period of twenty-five 
years had charge of the machinery of various steamers. He 
was made master of the Eastern Queen in 1861, and for forty- 
two years held command of the largest boats running on our 
river. For two-thirds of a century he has been in continuous 
steamboat service ; a record probably unequaled in this coun- 
try. What Capt. Nathaniel Kimball was to the pioneer days 
of steam navigation on this river. Captain Collins has been to 
these later days. In the forty-two years during which he has 
been master, he has carried at least 1,700,000 passengers, and 
has sailed his steamers over one million miles, without a single 
loss of life, and without financial disaster to any craft under 
his command. In his full steamboat service, he has traveled 
on water a distance of seventy times around our globe. No 
wonder that his passengers trusted him implicitly, for his very 
presence seemed a guarantee of safety. Thoughtful and solic- 
itous for the welfare of his patrons, he assumed no unnecessary 
risks, but in times of danger was always collected and brave. 
His name was as well known as the line on which he ran, and 
the traveling public learned with regret of his resignation 
from the route. Captain Collins has contributed the following 
brief sketch of his recollections of early steamboating on the 
Kennebec River, and of his connection with this service here 
and elsewhere. J. S. M. 



REMINISCENCES, JASON COLLINS. 69 

REMINISCENCES OF STEAMBOATING. 

BY JASON COLLINS. 

In the 3^ear 1818 there arrived at Gardiner a scow pro- 
pelled by steam ; this had been fitted up b}^ Jonathan Morgan, 
a lawyer of Alna, and was the first steam craft of any descrip- 
tion on the Kennebec River. 

In the following year a small steamer, called the "Tom 
Thumb," was towed from Boston to the mouth of the river by 
a sailing packet. The "Tom Thumb" was thirty feet long, 
with side-wheels, and was open, with her engine exposed to 
the weather. From the mouth of the Kennebec she steamed 
to Bath against the tide, creating quite a sensation among the 
people along the river. Of course she was not suitable for 
outside work, and so was put on the route between Bath and 
Augusta. This steamer remained on the route for several 
years. I remember seeing her in 1834, when she was towing 
the ship " Constitution " from Gardiner to Bath ; and, incred- 
ible as it now seems, it required six days for her to make 
this trip. 

In 1823 the steamer "Waterville" was built on King's 
Wharf at Bath by Capt. Seward Porter ; and she was probably 
the first steamer built on the banks of our river. Her route 
was from Bath to Augusta. 

During the same year the "Patent," Captain Porter, ran 
from Boston to Portland, and soon after the route was extended 
to Bath, where she connected with the "Waterville" for 
Auo-usta. This was the beginning of steamboat service from 
Boston to the Kennebec. 

The first line from Gardiner to Portland was established 
in 1826, when the "Patent," Capt. Henry Kimball in com- 
mand, was placed on the route ; at Portland she connected 
with the steamer for Boston. 

In 1832 the stern- wheel steamer, "Ticonic," was built in 
Gardiner upon the space in the rear of the present Gardiner 



70 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

National Bank, and she was launched across the street into 
the river. I attended this launching and distinctly remember 
the incident. She was built to run from Gardiner to Water- 
ville, and was the first steamer to go above Augusta. On her 
first appearance in the little village of Waterville she was 
greeted with cheer upon cheer, ringing of bells, and firing of 
cannon ; and a public dinner was given, where speeches were 
made and songs sung to celebrate the event. The "Ticonic" 
continued to run on the Waterville route until the building of 
the dam at Augusta, when, on account of the small size of the 
lock, she was unable to pass through. 

In 1833 the steamer "Hancock" was put on the route 
from Bath to Augusta, where she made connection with the 
"Ticonic" for Waterville. 

In 1835 Capt. Nathaniel Kimball, afterward so prominent 
in steamboat navigation upon our river, assumed command of 
the "McDonough," which ran between Gardiner and Portland. 

In 1836 a company was formed at Gardiner and some 
$40,000 subscribed for the purchase of a suitable steamer to 
run between Gardiner and Boston. The principal stockholders 
were R. H. Gardiner, Parker Sheldon, Capt. Nathaniel Kim- 
ball, David Bowman, Myrick Hopkins, John Henry, Col. 
John Stone, Edward Swan, and Capt. Arthur Berry. This 
was the beginning of the steamboat line between this place and 
Boston, and which has continued without interruption ever 
since. This company purchased the steamer "New England" 
and placed her upon this route, with Captain Kimball in com- 
mand. The fare to Boston, including meals, was four dollars. 
The boat contained no staterooms, and the middle berth in the 
cabin was considered the best choice. 

Off Boone Island, at midnight on the first of June, 1838, 
when on her passage from Boston, the "New England" was 
run into by the schooner "Curlew." The steamer immediately 
began to fill, and the passengers were transferred to the 
schooner with the loss of but one life. The schooner sailed 
for Portsmouth, that being the nearest port. Captain Kimball, 



REMINISCENCES, JASON COLLINS. 71 

with his officers and crew, remained by the wreck in boats 
until eleven o'clock on the same morning, when the steamer 
rolled over and floated, bottom upward. She was later towed 
to Portsmouth, but lost her machinery on the w^ay and proved 
a total loss. Captain Kimball and his crew were picked up by 
a passing schooner bound for Boston. 

As soon as the news of the wreck reached Gardiner, Parker 
Sheldon left for Portsmouth, wdiere he was joined by Captain 
Kimball. The two then proceeded to Norwich, Conn., and 
there chartered the new steamer "Huntress," arriving with her 
in Gardiner on the tenth of June. 

At this time the "Clifton," owned by Commodore Vander- 
bilt, was running to Portland, where she connected with the 
large boats for Boston. This was the beginning of the Van- 
derbilt opposition. 

The same season the new steamer, "Augusta," built by 
Vanderbilt, was placed by him on the route from Hallowell to 
Boston ; but, not proving fast enough to compete with the 
"Huntress," she was withdrawn, and the "C. Vanderbilt," 
supposed to be the fastest boat on the Atlantic coast, took her 
place. 

There was great rivalry between the " Huntress " and the 
" C. Vanderbilt," and the people of the Kennebec Valley were 
ardent supporters of one boat or the other. After a few trips 
Captain Kimball received and accepted a challenge from the 
"Vanderbilt," for a trial of speed from Boston to Gardiner. 
The officers of the " Huntress " were instructed to put all in 
order for the trial ; the best of wood, the fuel then used, was 
selected for the fii-es, and everything possible was done to get 
the boat in trim for speed. 

When the hour for sailing arrived, the " Vanderbilt " took 
the lead, but by the time Boston Light was reached the "Hun- 
tress" was alongside ; and long before Eastern Point was sighted 
the " Huntress " was ahead. The boats were so evenly matched 
in speed that during the entire night they were near together. 
Great excitement prevailed on both steamers, and little sleep, 



72 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

if any, was enjoyed by either crews or passengers. To the 
great satisfaction of the Gardiner people, the " Huntress " won 
the race, reaching this city three-fourths of a mile ahead of her 
rival. The "Huntress" made this trip from Boston in ten 
hours and forty-five minutes, a sailing time without a parallel 
on this line from that day to this, a period of sixty-five years. 

At the close of the season the " Huntress " was returned 
to Norwich, but was rechartered for the following year by the 
Gardiner Company. Commodore Vanderbilt, convinced that 
he could not find another boat as fast as the "Huntress," pur- 
chased her, sul)ject to the charter, but without the knowledge 
of the Gardiner Company. He then notified the Company that 
they must take the steamer and give him a bonus of $10,000, 
upon his agreement to withdraw forever from the line, or he 
would put her on the route himself and pay whatever damages 
the law would allow for breaking the charter. The Company 
accepted his offer of purchase, and in 1839 the "Huntress" 
returned to her former route, with her old ofiicers. 

In 1840 business had increased to such an extent that the 
" Huntress " proved too small to accommodate the public ; 
accordingly the steamer " John W. Richmond " was purchased 
and placed on the route, while the " Huntress " ran to Boston 
by the way of Portland. 

In 1841 the Eastern Railroad reached Portsmouth, and 
the steamer "M. Y. Beach" was put on to connect with their 
trains from that place to Hallo well. This service was continued 
until the railroad reached Portland, when the steamer "Tele- 
graph" was put on to make connection with Hallo well. 

In 1843 Captain Sanford, of New York, put on the 
steamer "Splendid" from Hallowell to Boston, in opposition 
to the regular line. On account of this opposition rates were 
ruinous ; the competition was so great that passengers fre- 
quently paid whatever they pleased. 

The next year the "John W. Richmond" came on as usual, 
and ran until the night of September 3d, when she was burned 
to the water's edge at her wharf in Hallowell. The Company 



i 



REMINISCENCES, JASON COLLINS. 73 

then put on the steamer "Penobscot," with Captain Kimball in 
command. 

In 1845 another opposition appeared — a new Company, 
called the "People's Line," whieh was composed of prominent 
citizens of Gardiner and Pittston. They purchased the 
steamer "John Marshall," and again low fares were in order. 
The old Company, headed by Captain Kimball, then built the 
steamer "Kennebeck," and placed her on the Boston route, 
while they had the "Charter Oak," Captain William Byram, 
on the outside route. The steamers "Flushino-" and "Bellino-- 
ham" also formed a daily line between Augusta and Bath, 
while the "Huntress," on the line from Gardiner to Portland, 
connecting with the railroad, completed the fleet of six 
steamers, all running from this port. 

As the "People's Line" did not prove profitable, in the 
following May the " Marshall " was sold and the old Company 
reo;ained full control. 

On the second of July, 1847, the "Huntress" made a 
special trip, bringing President Polk and his Cabinet, with 
other prominent men, from Portland to Hallowell. At about 
midnight they reached Hallowell, where carriages in waiting 
took them to Augusta to pass the night. On the following 
day the distinguished guests drove to Gardiner, visited R. H. 
Gardiner at "Oaklands," and left for Portland on the "Huntress." 
There was a large gathering of citizens at the wharf, where 
speeches were made by the President and the Hon. George 
Evans. 

In 1837 the first steam ferry boat ever operated upon the 
river was built in this city and ran between Gardiner and 
Pittston. Her machinery was made by Holmes and Bobbins, 
of Gardiner. She was called the "Kennebis," and was in 
service until the completion of the bridge in 1853. The wife 
of Captain Joshua Warren was the first woman to cross the 
bridge. 

In 1849 a steamer was built in this city, and Avas then 
taken apart and shipped to San Francisco, where she was set 
up and ran on the Sacramento River. 



74 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

In 1836 I began steamboat service on the "New England" 
in the engineers' department, and was in continuous service 
from this port to Portland or Boston until 1849, when I 
engaged with Commodore Vanderbilt as engineer of his 
steamer, "Independence." While in New York, superintending 
the setting up of the steamer's machinery, I daily observed 
the building of the famous yacht "America," the first winner 
of the "cup." 

On the first day of January, 1850, the new steamship 
"Independence," with a crew of sixty officers and men, sailed 
from New York for San Francisco. She reached port on the 
first of July, after a detention of a month at Rio Janeiro on 
account of yellow fever, from which we lost four of our men. 

The "Independence" was then put on the Nicaragua 
route from San Francisco, a passage of 3,000 miles, usually 
made in from twelve to fifteen days. The "Independence" 
was the first steamer carrying passengers over this route, and 
she sailed regularly, with no accident, until the morning of 
February 16, 1853, when she ran on a coral reef, off S. 
Margarita Island, near Lower California. She was backed 
off and run on shore, but was leaking badly, and it was soon 
discovered that she was on fire. Her boats were immediately 
lowered, but all of them were lost in the heavy surf, except 
one, which, containing a few women and children, succeeded 
in reaching the shore. Many, suffocating with smoke, leaped 
from the vessel to meet death in the sea, where even good 
swimmers were sinking, in vain attempts to save themselves 
and their friends. 

The survivors were long in reaching the shore, where the 
scene was truly heartrending. The bodies of the dead and 
dying came floating in on the waves, and many perished, who, 
with proper care, might doubtless have awakened from uncon- 
sciousness to life again. 

The men from Maine, forty in number, were all saved ; 
but, of the five hundred passengers, only two hundred and 
twenty-five escaped with their lives. 



REMINISCENCES, JASON COLLINS. 75 

S. Margarita is a barren volcanic island, thirty miles \on<r 
and five wide. As soon as all were on shore a rude shelter was 
built for the women and children ; and here, during the first 
night spent upon the island, a baby was born and named 
Margarita Vanderbilt. The father of the child had been 
drowned in the struggle to reach land. 

There was no food or water upon the island, but on the 
second day a crude condenser was made from materials picked 
up from the wreck, and water was slowly distilled at the rate of 
three gallons an hour — a precious boon to the thirsty sufferers. 

Toward evening on the next day a small cannon from the 
wreck was carried across the island, and by discharging this 
and kindling fires at night time we succeeded in attracting the 
attention of some whaling vessels, which brought us relief. 
By ten o'clock that evening food had reached the island and all 
were on board the three hospitable ships, the "Omega," 
"Meteor," "James Murray," and the bark "Clement." The 
ship "Meteor" was afterward chartered to take the survivors 
to San Francisco, where we arrived on the first day of April. 
After a short stay in San Francisco I decided to return to New 
York, and sailed by the Nicaragua route, on the steamer 
"Brother Jonathan," arriving on May 12, 1853. 

To resume the history of the Kennebec steamboats ; in 
1850 the "T. F. Secor" was placed on the line from Hallowell 
to Bath, where she made daily connections with the railroad. 
When the railroad reached Richmond, she plied from that point 
to Augusta. 

The new steamer " Ocean " then came on to the Boston 
line and ran until November 24, 1854, when she was run into 
by the Cunard steamship "Canada," in Boston Lower Harbor. 
She took fire, burning to the Avater's edge, and in this accident 
seven lives were lost. 

Captain Kimball, who for eighteen years had been actively 
engaged in the Kennebec steamboat service, and who, more 
than any other one man, had contributed to its success, retired 
as master in 1853, though he still retained a large interest in 
the line and acted for a time as its General Manager. 



76 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

In the spring of 1855 the steamer "Governor," Capt. 
James Collins, took the place of the "Ocean," and during that 
and the following year she was the only boat on the line. 

In 1856 the steamer "Eastern Queen" w^as built in New 
York. She was a palatial steamer for those days, and cost 
$100,000. She was owned by a new company : Isaac Rich 
and Nathaniel Stone, of Boston, and Capt. Nathaniel Kimball, 
William Bradstreet, William S. Grant, and Jason Collins, of 
this city. 

In the spring of 1857 the "Eastern Queen," with Capt. 
James Collins in command, began her trips to Boston. After 
running for three seasons she was partly burned, in March, 
1860, while in winter quarters at Wiscasset. While she was 
being rebuilt in East Boston, the "State of Maine" was char- 
tered to take her place. The "Eastern Queen" resumed her 
trips in November of the same year. 

In the spring of 1861 Capt. James Collins died at his 
home in Farmingdale and Jason Collins was appointed in 
command. At the close of that season the " Eastern Queen " 
was chartered by the Government for the Burnside Expedition 
to Hatteras. We sailed from New York December 11th, with 
the right wing of the 24th Mass. Vol. Regiment, accompanied 
by Gilm ore's Band. After disembarking the troops at Annap- 
olis, we took on board the 4th R. I. Yol. Regiment, sailed for 
Hatteras Inlet, arrived at anchorage a few days later, and 
waited until February 5th, when the signal was given for the 
first division to get under way. The "Eastern Queen," wdth 
General Parks and staff on board, was the flagship of the first 
division, and followed the gunboats ; after her came the trans- 
ports, each wath vessels in tow, making seventy-five in line, 
and carrying 12,000 troops. When off Roanoke Island we 
anchored and disembarked the troops in whale boats, while 
the Federal gunboats were shelling the woods. The next 
morning our troops captured the Confederate army and forts. 
During the winter we were engaged in the transportation of 
troops and were frequently in the midst of danger, often wit- 



REMINISCENCES, JASON COLLINS. 77 

nessing engagements between our gunboats and the Southern 
forts. We returned to Boston on the 15th of May, and on 
the 17th of June resumed our route on the Kennebec. That 
spring, for the first time since it had been established, the 
regular steamboat service from this river to Boston had been 
interrupted. 

In the following November the "Eastern Queen" was 
again chartered, this time for the Banks Expedition to New 
Orleans. On December 6th we left New York, with troops 
on board, under sailing orders for twenty-four hours' continu- 
ous steaming, and with sealed orders to be opened at the con- 
clusion of that time in the presence of the commanding officer 
of the troops. Our destination was then found to be Ship 
Island. Afterward we went to New Orleans, and during the 
winter were engaged in the transportation of troops, supplies, 
and dispatches from that city to Baton Rouge, Pensacola, and 
other places. 

We returned to the Kennebec on the 15th of May, and 
the " Eastern Queen " remained on the Boston route until the 
spring of 1870, when she was sold to New York parties. Her 
name was then changed to " Tamaulipas." She ran from Havana 
to ports in Mexico and was finally lost in a gale off that coast. 

In 1864 the Kennebec Company bought the blockade 
runner, "Scotia," which had been captured by a Government 
steamer, and placed her on the route from Hallowell to Port- 
land ; but she proved unprofitable, was taken off and sold. 
She then sailed for China, and was never heard from afterward. 

In 1865 an opposition line put the steamer "Daniel Web- 
ster" on the route from Boston to Gardiner. In this year 
the " Star of the East " was built in New York at an expense 
of $180,000, and at that time she was the most finely equipped 
boat running out of Boston. After superintending the build- 
ing of the "Star" I took command, and Captain Samuel 
Blanchard was placed on the "Eastern Queen." 

In 1866 the Bath Company, with the steamers "Daniel 
Webster" and "Eastern City," ran a daily line to Boston in 



78 CENTENNIAL OF GARDINER. 

opposition to the "Star of the East" and the "Eastern Queen," 
owned by the Kennebec Company. There was great competi- 
tion between these lines ; the fares to Boston were reduced to 
twenty-five cents, and exciting times followed. CroAYds of 
people took the trip who had never been to Boston before, and 
probably some of them then saw a steamboat for the first 
time. At the close of that season the Bath steamers were 
withdrawn, and for the past thirty-seven years there has been 
no opposition to the Kennebec Company. 

From 1870 to 1889 the "Star" was the only boat on the 
Kennebec route, and during that time she made but two trips 
weekly ; these, however, were very profitable and paid her 
owners handsome dividends. 

The stern- wheel steamer "Delia Collins" was built to 
take the place of the "Clarion," running from Gardiner to 
Augusta as a tender for the Boston boats. 

In 1889 the up-to-date steamer "Kennebec," the first 
steamer of the line built at Bath, was launched from the New 
England yard in the presence of thousands of people. On 
board were the Governor and his staff, with the stockholders 
and their friends. The owners of the boat were principally 
from the cities and towns along the river. 

After taking charge of the building of the "Kennebec," 
I assumed command ; and on July first of the same year the 
boat made her first trip. Her service has been without 
adventure. 

Captain W. J. Baker was placed in command of the " Star 
of the East," and each of these boats made two trips weekly to 
Boston. In 1891 the "Star" was rebuilt at a cost of $50,000, 
and the name was chano-ed to " Sao;adahoc." In 1902 she was 
sold, her name was again changed, and she is now running on 
the Sound. 

In the winter of 1896-7 the Kennebec Company built the 
steamer " Lincoln " for the winter route from Boston to Bath, 
and the summer route to Boothbay, but, after two years' 
service, at an advance of her cost, she was sold to run from 
Miami to Havana. 



REMINISCENCES, JASON COLLINS. 79 

In 1901 the Kennebec Steamboat Company sold their 
steamboats, wharves, and other property to the Eastern 
Steamship Company. They have since built the fine steamer 
"Ransom B. Fuller," which, in connection with the "Kennebec," 
is still on the route to Boston. Thus the line, established in 
this city in 1836, and owned by the citizens of the Kennebec 
Valley, has passed into other hands. 



EP 6 1904 



